


Miraculous Bunny Hutch

by DAsObiQuiet



Series: Miraculous Bunny Hutch [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Accidental Time Travel, Adrien Agreste Angst, Adrien Agreste Needs a Hug, Adrien Agreste grows up, Adrien becomes a real hero, Adrien gets therapy, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Amazing students, Angst, Bad Jokes, Bad Puns, Bets, Betting, Bwahahahahaha!, Character Death, Dealing With Loss, Dealing With Press, Desperation, Difficult Decisions, Don't make a bet with Ladybug, F/M, Fireman, Firemen, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Fruit, Gen, Grief makes you do stupid things, Hawk Moth is Gabriel Agreste, Healing, Heartbreak, I Got Your Back, I'm Here For You, Identity Reveal, Independent Adrien Agreste, Just don't, Look! A distraction!, Loss, Loss of Miraculous, Magic, Major Character Injury, Mental Healing, Misdirection, Oblivious Adrien Agreste, Oblivious Adrien Agreste and Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Oblivious Marinette Dupain-Cheng, One Shot, Passive-aggression, Police, Post Hawkmoth Defeat, Post-Hawk Moth Defeat, Post-Magic Reveal, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Hawk Moth Defeat, Protective Nathalie, Recovery, Red Herrings, Time Loop, Time Shenanigans, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, Troll - Freeform, We'll face it together, You fell for it!, dad jokes, dealing with death, distraction, mental health, perception filter, post-identity reveal, together
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-11
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-02-01 00:56:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 45,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12693723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DAsObiQuiet/pseuds/DAsObiQuiet
Summary: Series of one-shots, tales and drabbles that may or may not be related. See first chapter for list.LATEST: In which Ladybug acts a little strangely...





	1. Chapter Index

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings will be posted with each chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this story is where I'll be posting one-shots that I don't always plan on continuing. Now, just because I post one here doesn't mean that I can't make it it's own story. So if you want something continued, let me know. :)

**Chapter 1 -- Index**

**Chapter 2 -- Real Heroes:** In which, after Hawkmoth's reveal, Adrien has to learn to stand on his own two feet.

 **Chapter 3 -- Filling the Hole:** In which Marinette and Adrien have to find a way to move on after they have to give up their Miraculous.

 **Chapter 4 -- Grief and Guilt:** In which Chat Noir dies. Gabriel and Marinette decide to do something about it.

 **Chapter 5 -- Dad Jokes:** Because Hawkmoth's akuma are worse than puns sometimes.

 **Chapter 6 -- Oblivious:** In which Plagg and Tikki do a lot of face palming.

 **Chapter 7 -- Loop de Loop:** In which the Miraculous group ends up in a rather...loopy situation.

 **Chapter 8 -- Extraordinary:** In which Marinette begins to realize the effects of magic on her and those around her.

 **Chapter 9 -- Red-Spotted Herring:** In which an Akuma finally gets ahold of Ladybug's earrings...

 **Chapter 10 -- Like Father, Like Son:** In which Gabriel realizes that Adrien is far more like him than he's comfortable with.

 **Chapter 11 -- Time Traveler:** In which Master Fu meets someone who came back in time, but not someone he would have expected.

 **Chapter 12 -- Red-Spotted Distraction:** In which Adrien makes a few connections...

 **Chapter 13 -- Orange You Glad?:** In which there is much fruit.

 **Chapter 14 -- Passive Agreste-ive:** In which Adrien learns to troll his father.

 **Chapter 15 -- Not Since The Accident:** In which Ladybug and Chat Noir make a bet...

 **Chapter 16 -- A Serious Discussion:** In which Chat Noir addresses some things that really should have been addressed a while ago.

 **Chapter 17 -- A Glimpse of the Future:** In which some time travel is involved.


	2. Real Heroes

Adrien had been born into luxury. Unlike many similar children he knew, he didn't take it for granted. At least he tried not to. He didn't like flaunting his money or status for multiple reasons. First, he hated the price he had to pay for that status. The wealth had more or less trapped him in a world he'd hated and no amount of physical possessions could make up for that. Second, it wasn't his. It never had been. He'd done nothing to really  _earn_  it all. Sure, he had a few photo shoots here and there, but even those were set up and managed by his father. Everything belonged to him, not to Adrien.

When he'd gotten the ring and the chance to become Chat Noir, it had seemed like an answer – a godsend even. A blessing. A miracle. He could call it whatever he wanted, but it had given a nearly-broken, very lonely teenager a reason to live instead of just exist, and he'd taken to it like a fish to water.

Plagg had become an escape from everything wrong in Adrien's life, one that he initially thought he'd earned. Which is why, out of all the losses Adrien suffered – money, status, reputation – the ring was the worst. A large reason for that was because he'd given it up freely...but he'd  _had_  to. True it had been his own idea and choice, but once he'd realized the lies his life was based off of, he couldn't keep it.

Master Fu had said the ring would be there for him when he was ready to get it back, but Adrien didn't think he'd ever feel worthy after his and Ladybug's defeat of Hawkmoth. Because what kind of a hero was he if the master villain behind the terrorizing of Paris just happened to be his own father...and he'd never seen it. Even Ladybug had had a better clue than he himself had, and Paris didn't need a blind super hero.

Not that anyone would want him to be a super hero anymore. Not if they knew his identity.

All of Gabriel's assets had been frozen and some of them seized, leaving Adrien with little more than the clothes on his back and a recently acquired secondary education diploma and some modeling history to his name. Once he'd given up Plagg (and he had no idea how temporary or permanent that would be) he felt he literally had nothing to his name.

No modeling agency wanted to take on the son of Hawkmoth (and he wasn't about to tell them he was Chat Noir either) and so he'd stood in front of the police station with a backpack of his belongings, his phone and whatever he happened to have in his wallet. He was actually pretty lucky to have that. He'd given up the ring before he'd even come here and now he stood on the street, staring up at the building and hoping he didn't look as lost as he felt. His future had never been so uncertain and he really didn't know where to go from here. Even Nathalie and the Gorilla were being detained for the foreseeable future. Something about aiding and abetting.

He glanced down at his phone and noted the date bitterly. “Happy Birthday to me.” What a way to turn 18.

Thankfully, the choice was taken out of his hands when a voice brought his attention back to the present.

"Hey, man."

Adrien looked over to see Nino standing there, leaning against a bench as nonchalantly as the day they'd first met. Like none of...  _this_  had ever happened. Like they were still 14-year-olds in  _collége._  Like Adriens' life hadn't just completely fallen apart. Like Adrien wasn't a failed super hero or the son of a super villain, no matter his reasoning.

"Nino," was all he managed to say, and it came out somehow sounding hoarse and squeaky at the same time.

"I heard about everything." Adrien tried to hide a wince. He hadn't checked any of the news feeds and had no desire to change that decision now. He hadn't even been able to bring himself to look at the Ladyblog or the Chatbox. He doubted he'd ever be able to look at the latter one again. He definitely didn't deserve the praise they heaped on him there.

Adrien looked down at the ever so clean street. Usually he took pride in how well maintained the city was. Right now, it just felt fake. Everything felt fake. The  _world_  felt fake. He was glad Akuma weren't a thing anymore because, especially without his Miraculous, he'd be a prime target.

"If you don't want to be my friend anymore, I get it," he heard himself say, not prodding the dull numbness that fell over him as he spoke. Maybe he could run away and join the circus? He imagined himself in some sort of tight outfit doing all sorts of flips and dives through the air and the almost snicker that had budded at his thought turned into a full-on grimace.

"What?" The disbelief in his friend's voice caused him to look up, but he couldn't' bring himself to hope right now. Nino did look angry though. Was his emotion directed at Adrien and his father, though? Or his words for some reason?

"Well, no one wants to have anything to do with the son of Hawkmoth," and if he sounded entirely too bitter, who could blame him? "So I get it if—"

The punch to his arm cut him off and he actually had to rub it. It looked like Nino had been working out if he punched a former super hero that hard.

"Shut up. I have a sleeping bag set out on my floor at home and permission for you to stay as long as you need. Unless you're going to stay with Chloé?"

Adrien actually stepped back from him, staring incredulously. If he went with Chloé he'd  _never_ get a moment's rest.

Nino nodded. "That's what I thought. Come on."

That hope was beginning to break through the numb, but Adrien had to ask one final time. "Are you sure? Letting the son of Hawkmoth stay with you...it could be bad for your family."

The amused expression in Nino's face caused Adrien's brow to furrow in puzzlement. "If you're talking about our reputation, you've never seen my mom on a war path. She said it's fine as long as you pick up and look after yourself."

For a few moments, Adrien was speechless. He'd always loved being a super hero and rescuing people, but at that moment, for the first time, he really began to understand what it was like to  _be_  rescued. The relief and the hope almost overwhelmed him.

While Adrien stood there, gaping like an idiot, Nino thumbed to the taxi waiting behind him. "Now, are you coming or not?"

Adrien finally felt himself smile for the first time in what seemed like forever. "Yeah."

xXx

It wasn't ideal at all, but Nino's family tried to make him feel welcome. Adrien appreciated their efforts, he really did, but it became apparent very quickly that he would need to find a place of his own, and thus a job. He had no idea when he could have access to his father's funds, and honestly, he wasn't sure he  _wanted_  access. He wasn't sure he wanted  _anything_  to do with that man right now.

Well, at least he recognized most of the issues he had to get over before he could really put everything that had happened behind him. He liked to think – and hope – that actually putting it all behind him would be possible some day, but wasn't sure he could really believe that right now.

He hadn't really gone to school with the intention to learn a trade. Max already had jobs as a programmer and Kim looked like he'd be going on to play professional sports. Chloé had gotten Sabrina a job as a secretary and even the blonde herself was looking into politics. He was sure Marinette would take over her father's bakery (and if she didn't, well, there just so happened to be a vacancy in the fashion world) and Alya had gotten an internship as a journalist. Nino was applying to higher education to further his music career and really Adrien just felt completely out of the loop. Without his modeling, he didn't know what he could possibly do.

He scowled at that thought, mentally kicking himself for the slip up. Like everything else in his life, it had never been  _his_  modeling, but his  _father's_ , and much like anything else that had Gabriel Agreste's name attached to it, Adrien didn't want to even acknowledge its existence. He wasn't the only one. There had been protests held outside city hall, the police station, even the Louvre. So many people wanted a piece of Gabriel Agreste and Adrien didn't blame them. As far as he was concerned, they could all get in line behind him.

Still, if he didn't want to go into modeling again, (and even if he did, who would dare take him on?) just what could he do? He'd even seriously considered the circus, but couldn't stomach the thought without that ring on his finger.

The ring he still didn't deserve.

Man, was he messed up.

But what else could a former model/super hero do?

As usual, Nino had the answer. Well, Alya had initially given him the idea, but Nino had pushed the note for the website application under his nose.

"What's this?" Adrien asked, eyebrows furrowed together as he looked at the card, then up at his best friend and then back at the card again.

Nino sighed. "You hate just sitting around, so I thought this could help. Well, Alya thought it could help. I'm just smart and agree with her."

Adrien's eyes widened. "This is an ad for the National Fire College."

"So the cat can read," Nino said sarcastically, then rolled his eyes at Adrien stiffening. He hadn't heard that phrase before...and why would Nino say something about a cat to him... did he know? If he did, he said nothing else and went on as if Adrien didn't suddenly look like death warmed over. "They sometimes recruit from the volunteers as young as 18, but going through the college would give you the most chance of getting hired on. If it's money you're worried about, I know you're not used to it so I did some research. There are grants we can check out, and you'll probably have to get a job and work through it all, but, I think this is you, Adrien."

The blond hadn't felt so vulnerable since his father had been arrested. "Why?"

His best friend looked confused. "Why what?"

There were too many whys, so Adrien tried to grasp at one. "Why do you think it's me?"

The smile that came to his friend's face looked so soft and warm that Adrien couldn't help but believe him when he spoke. "'Cause I've never met someone who cares so much about other people in my life."

He couldn't not believe Nino, and yet his mind still had a hard time wrapping around that. Adrien was, and had always been, a bit selfish and self-centered.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Adrien couldn't help but ask, awkwardly, "Are you sure you mean me?"

Nino just rolled his eyes and dropped the ad on Adrien's lap. "Just think about it, ok?"

He did.

xXx

Finding a job was a nerve-wracking process Adrien did  _not_  want to repeat if he had the chance,  _especially_  from half-way across the country. He ended up with a job at a local cafe that would work around his school schedule. The college itself was situated on an airbase in southern France and the decision to actually go seemed like the biggest, most uncertain step Adrien had ever taken – and he'd fought Akuma.

Finding a place to live hadn't been too difficult, but he'd be rooming with at least 3 other guys and sharing a room with one.

He'd never shared a room before Nino had let him crash at his place. That had been a new experience, and not one he particularly wanted to put up with for the course of his study, but the more he thought about it, the more right it felt. Sure, he wasn't going to be a magical super hero with the support of all of Paris behind him, but he found himself growing more and more attached to the idea.

The day he left Paris was a sad one. Most of his former classmates showed up, each promising to keep in touch. Marinette, the sweet girl that she was, had even baked him a cake and a batch of cookies for the road. She'd even managed to get them to him without tripping and crushing them all.

Then he was off on a train ride that would connect to a few others before he could catch a bus to arrive at the air base.

He got lost trying to find his new room at least four times, and the room he ended up in was nothing more than a glorified dorm room with a central area and a few rooms smaller than the private bathroom he'd had growing up. Beds had been shoved into either end of each room and they squeaked horribly as he sat down, despite looking fairly new.

Adrien loved it.

It had been a hard day, a sad day and (frankly) a terrifying day, and yet, even as Chat Noir, he'd never felt so free.

xXx

His roommate happened to be a boy named Aristide Campeau, a guy who looked like he could eat Kim for breakfast. He was large, had dark skin and a square jaw that looked like it could have been carved from stone.

"Uh, hi," Adrien said, trying to muster up as much courage as he could. "I'm Adrien Agreste and it looks like I'm your new roommate."

Aristide just cocked his head at Adrien, as if studying him.

"You don't  _look_  like the son of a super villain."

And that quickly, Adrien felt himself shut down. He didn't want to say anything that sounded rude or cruel, so he didn't say anything at all, choosing instead to simply glare.

"That's more like it," the guy said with a nod.

Adrien blinked in confusion. "Huh?"

"Shoulda guessed that would be a sore subject, sorry," the big guy said, rubbing the back of his head like a sheepish 3-year-old. It made for a strange dichotomy.

That's when Adrien made connections. "Wait, you don't care that Hawkmoth, the super villain of Paris, is my father?"

Aristide just shrugged. "Should I?"

Adrien felt himself smile a real smile. "You know, I think we'll get along just fine."

xXx

It turns out, some of his fellow students and some instructors  _did_  care about Adrien's parentage. He was never pranked, but he could feel the stares and got more than one accusation in those first few weeks. Gritting his teeth, he bore it as best he could and threw his efforts into studying.

The courses were  _harsh_  and demanding and it all made his personal training routine growing up look like a pleasant walk in the park. He did bulk up a little bit, but not much. He'd always been more of the 'lean muscle' kind of person anyway. It kept him fast, light and agile. That was fine with him.

As the year went on, he began to recognize a few things. As he got stronger, he started to feel more and more like he had as Chat Noir. He hadn't initially realized just how much stronger that transformation had made him, but now he was beginning to get an idea. Secondly, he had the reflexes of a seasoned professional. More than one teacher made that comment, some of them begrudgingly. He just made up some excuse about how his father had liked hunting and dodged inquiries as best he could. He also had a sense of his surroundings that, while no where near what it had been as Chat Noir, was still leagues above normalcy. The problem was, it had  _become_  normal for him, but now he recognized it as a residual affect of being a super hero for so long or lingering trace of magic because other people couldn't seem to tell where it was or wasn't safe to step in the burning buildings set up for them to work on, let alone how to judge the distance and just flip or hand-spring over them.

After the first time, he was told in no uncertain terms to  _never_  do that again.

The best part about it, though, was that this was all him. Sure there might have been some things left over, but he wasn't relying on some ancient cat deity for it. He'd  _earned_  this himself. It was a good feeling. Although it did occur to him that if Plagg's power had been able to make Adrien so much stronger then, what could it do now?

He usually shut that thought down before it could get very far. Thinking about Plagg still hurt.

Aristide himself was a godsend. He reminded Adrien of Nino, Kim and Iven all rolled into one with Alya's tenacity and Marinette's straight-forward, matter-of-fact attitude. He was also more observant than all of the above combined.

"You're Chat Noir, aren't you." He said one night after a particularly harsh training that only Adrien had managed to beat...barely. He was really out of practice if he couldn't even jump as far as he needed to make it across that gap, but while he'd scrambled, he'd managed to make it. He'd had to jump and climb over the rubble though, which he found useless because he could have sprung over it much faster.

But that was the problem. Had he been showing off a little too much? Sure, he was at the head of his class, but did it really show enough for someone who had never even seen Chat Noir in person to put two and two together? Or had the magic really been protecting him?

He knew he'd paused for too long, but he couldn't help the nervous grin that came to his face like an old friend. "I'm sorry, what?"

Aristide shook his head. "Guess that's a 'yes'. I'm sorry."

Adrien opened his mouth to deny it again, rather frantically, but the apology made him stop. "Um...for what?"

He shook his head. "I'm just... Having to fight your father like that must have really sucked."

The former super hero forgot to deny the other's claim as he looked down grimly. "Yeah. It did."

"I won't tell."

Adrien smiled sadly. "Thanks."

"By the way, you were my favorite."

Adrien blinked. "Huh?"

Aristide grinned, his white teeth standing out and making him somehow look even happier. "Of the heroes in Paris, you were the best. You made me laugh. I loved your cat puns."

That made Adrien blink harder. Someone appreciated his puns? After years of getting flack for them, he almost didn't believe what he'd heard.

"You liked them?" he asked, incredulous.

"Of course! I always thought they were  _cat_ -astrophically funny."

Adrien just stared, not even bothering to blink anymore, his mind in full-on blue screen of death mode. It took him a second to restart his brain, and when he did, he just burst out laughing. "They were really that bad, weren't they."

"But that's what made them funny," his roommate insisted with a smirk.

Adrien grinned. "Doesn't stop them from being claw-ful."

"Eh, I didn't get that  _feline_  from them."

He didn't hide his snort very well, not that he was trying. " _Paw_ -sitively terrible."

Anyone else would have shaken their head and rolled their eyes. Aristide joined him in his laughter.

xXx

"We have to get past this door," the current team leader said, a slightly frantic worry in his voice. They were minutes away from their goal time and the only thing in their way happened to be what looked like a steel door. It was probably made of wood and painted to look like steel, but they couldn't open it like usual as per instructions.

"Why would they have a steel door here?" Adrien asked Aristide softly. "It makes no sense."

The larger man shrugged. "Sometimes houses don't make sense. I guess they just want us prepared."

The blond rolled his eyes. "It isn't realistic enough."

They paused while people shouted out ideas, most of which were shot down.

"Hey, couldn't you use that attack?" Aristide asked suddenly.

Adrien blinked. "Attack?"

"You know, the..." he looked around and then leaned down and whispered, "Cataclysm".

Adrien felt his eyes go wide and then he hunched in on himself. "I can't use that power. I'm not Chat Noir anymore. I gave that up."

Aristide's own eyes went wide in shock as he stood up, still staring at Adrien, who couldn't meet his gaze.

"You can give that up?"

Adrien shot him a deadpan expression and held up his ring-less hands. "No Miraculous."

The other man frowned. "I did wonder about that, but thought it might be camouflaged or something. Wondered why you'd go through this kind of training if you can do all of that." He gestured vaguely at the air, but Adrien got that he meant the super powers.

The former super hero shook his head and sighed. "I gave it up. I don't deserve it."

Aristide blinked. "Wait, what?"

"Will you two stop talking and help us out?"

They both looked over to see their team leader staring at them angrily.

Adrien sighed. "If you want to get into the room, go through the wall. If you can't go through the wall, find a vent. If you can't go through a vent, try for the hinges. Of course all of this is moot if you know how to pick a lock."

With that, he held up his hand and moved forward. He examined the door for a moment before nodding. "Non-electronic, pretty straight forward. There's probably an alarm though." And then he picked the lock in under a minute and they had their people out.

"Why didn't you come up with that earlier?" their team leader, a man named Mansel, asked disdainfully after the exercise.

Adrien had just shrugged, "It's a team exercise. I wanted to hear what other people had to say."

"Or maybe you should pay attention? This may be nothing new to you – although I don't know why you of all people would learn to pick a lock – but that doesn't mean you can't learn anything."

"My apologies for getting distracted," Adrien said with a nod of his head.

Satisfied, Mansel turned around and stalked away. Adrien almost smirked after him. The guy may have been right, but he didn't intimidate Adrien. He wasn't nearly as scary as Nathalie, let alone his father and so Adrien was pretty easily able to just shrug his annoyance off. The whole situation soon slipped from his mind. He had a job to get to tonight, after all.

xXx

Adrien worked the closing shift that night. He never thought something so simple as waiting tables could be so tiring. He'd been through his share of tiring photo shoots when he was younger, but while they were comparable, there was something fundamentally different about both of them.

Still, as long as he didn't give out his last name, he usually only got recognized once or twice a night. Most of that was something along the lines of: "You look like Adrien Agreste, did you know that?"

He usually just smiled and nodded.

More often than not, when he got home, his other roommates had already gone to bed. Which was why he was surprised to walk into his room and see Aristide still awake and sitting on his bed reading their textbooks. He was dressed for sleep in shorts and a tank top that showed off his very well-built chest and arms that often made Adrien extremely jealous.

"Oh, hi," he said, surprised. "What are you still doing up?"

"Something you said earlier bothered me...worried me."

Adrien frowned. "What?"

"You said you didn't deserve your Miraculous. You're such a nice guy, though, and you were a great super hero. Why would you think you didn't deserve it?"

The blond sighed. Right, this was why he was supposed to deny his double life until his dying breath. Well, one of many reasons.

"Can we talk about it tomorrow?"

Aristide didn't frown or sigh or anything, he just gave Adrien the saddest expression without really moving any facial muscles. It was really quite a feat. It wasn't pity, he didn't think, but almost a disappointment. But not...and...ugh, it really was too late for this.

His roommate nodded silently and put his textbook away. Then he reached for the lamp by his bed and Adrien sighed.

"Fine," he said with an eye roll. He closed the door and went over to dress for bed. He'd take a shower in the morning.

"You know, I lived under the same roof as Hawkmoth for almost four years. In that time, I suspected him a total of one time, and that was because Ladybug herself suspected him. Not me. To this day I have no idea how she came to the conclusion she did, but when we went to confront him, he'd become an Akuma."

He didn't turn to look at his roommate as he stripped down to his boxers and then shoved on sleep pants. It was summer and he didn't really want to bother with a shirt, so he just shoved his clothes in the flimsy (but very useful) laundry basket Marinette had given him before he left.

"That sounds like a good reason to not suspect him," Aristide pointed out.

Adrien just shook his head. "Yeah, but there were  _so many other_ signs. Some of the things he owned, some of the places he'd been, some of his opinions and things he said... I..." Adrien had gone over to the closet-sized bathroom the two of them shared and held his toothbrush in his hand. Then he sighed and put his hands on the sink, as if bracing himself. He didn't really know what he was bracing himself against, he just needed the grounding.

"I was too blind to see it. Not because I wasn't a good hero – although most of it was Ladybug, I'm telling you – but because I didn't  _want_  to see it. And if I couldn't see it because of my own shortcomings – If I'm too selfish to do what I need to do to protect France over myself... I don't deserve that ring."

He could feel Aristide's eyes on his back but couldn't look at him. Aristide had been a fan, and what would he be now? Now that he knew just how selfish and self-centered Adrien was.

"He's your father. No one would have wanted to face that," he heard his roommate say softly. It was funny, but this big, dark-skinned giant of a man was the biggest inner teddy bear Adrien had ever met. Of course, the guy had a great family who totally supported him. Adrien tried not to be bitter or jealous of that too.

"Maybe not, but that's why they're called 'super' heroes. We...they have to do things other people can't." Not just physically, but mentally and emotionally.

"That doesn't mean they have to be perfect. Heroes are still human."

He appreciated the thought, he really did, but Aristide just didn't get it. Although, in all honesty, he'd make a good Chat Noir. Just about anyone would make a better Chat Noir than Adrien, but maybe he could convince Master Fu and the others that it would be for the better and take Aristide to them. Maybe. It was an idea, if nothing else.

"Thank you for telling me," he heard behind him and turned to see the larger man staring down at his hands with a sad smile. "I know that isn't easy."

Adrien took a deep breath and then let it out. "Actually, it felt good. I haven't been able to talk to anyone about it. It's... liberating, I guess." He did feel better about it, now. Like a weight had been lifted off of his chest.

Aristide blinked at that and looked up in surprise, meeting Adrien's gaze. "You didn't talk to the other super heroes?"

At that, Adrien lifted a hand to the back of his head and rubbed it sheepishly. "Not really. We don't know each other's identities. I was willing to let Ladybug know, but we were told that we can't tell anyone else. She stuck to that pretty hard." He sighed dreamily, remembering that determined gaze that always got to him. "She has such a sense of duty and honor. It's one of the things I love about her." His smile faltered. "And it's one reason I know I don't measure up."

"That's really not fair, you know," Aristide said, folding his arms and looking upset for the first time that evening. "You don't know what she dealt with on a regular basis or why she was like that. For all you know, she could have been convinced you wouldn't like her real self and using duty to hide behind."

Adrien felt his eyes narrow. "How would you know that? You don't know her."

The larger man put up his hands in surrender. "I don't know that any more than you do. I'm just saying you're putting her on a pedestal and then trying to measure up to that ideal. Without knowing her other self, you can't know that you don't measure up to her."

Adrien didn't stop frowning, but he did deflate a bit. Then he kicked himself for trying to make himself look bigger and tougher than he was...like a cat. Stupid habit that had never really gone away. He hadn't even noticed until just recently. He wondered if he still had that stupid purr too.

"I guess," he murmured noncommittally and turned back to brush his teeth.

"I think you're better than you think you are. And you're still my favorite super hero."

Yeah, Adrien just couldn't stay mad at that. "Thanks," he said, and even meant it somewhat. Then he shook his head and recalled something Aristide had told him in passing earlier. "Wait, are you psycho-analyzing me?"

It was the larger man's turn to look sheepish. "Maybe a little." His father had been a therapist and his mother a counselor. Before he'd decided to become a fireman, Aristide had actually been studying psychology. Then he'd decided it wasn't for him...or that he wanted to be a fireman more.

Adrien smiled. "Look, I appreciate what you're doing, but this is something I have to work out on my own."

Aristide sighed and deflated a little himself. "Yeah, I know. I guess I just wanted to let you know that you see yourself differently than the rest of the world does. You're harder on yourself – unfairly so. And I wanted you to know that you have support, man."

His smile grew in wry amusement. "Is that a fan speaking? Or a therapist?"

The look Aristide shot Adrien was so earnest he almost took a step back in surprise. "Neither. It's a friend."

They stared at each other for a moment before the older of the two of them smiled, shrugged and flipped off the lamp by his bed. "Night."

"Night," Adrien returned, finished brushing his teeth and retired to his own bed. He lay there thinking for several minutes before he went to bed, but slept better than he had in a long while that night.

xXx

Nino, Mareinette, Alya and Chloé all showed up for his graduation. He wasn't quite sure how he'd been able to hold a job and work  _and_  graduate at the top of his class, but he'd managed it. He'd even gotten a message from his father about how proud he was.

Adrien had thrown the message away.

He'd introduced Aristide to the others and hadn't been surprised when they all got along like a house on fire. Really, this guy fit right in. Even Chloé, who took one look at his muscles and was all over him. It warmed Adrien's heart to see everyone getting along like that.

He ended up being transferred back to Paris (he'd put that down as one of his preferences as placement). Initially he'd been worried about finding a decent apartment that he could afford on the salary he'd make. He'd probably have to get a second job.

Of course, that's when Nino had come through again. Apparently he'd moved out on his own as well (his youtube show had gotten more popular than Adrien had realized) and was looking for a roommate. Adrien took him up on the offer immediately.

Aristide ended up being placed in Marseille, nearer to his family, but they kept in touch often enough.

He'd just begun to settle into his new life when he got word that his father's estate had been settled and his presence was required.

xXx

Adrien wasn't happy to be there. This was a reminder of his old life – the good and the bad, and all of it painful. He sat there, watching his father's lawyer go over the settlements with what he really hoped wasn't a threatening expression. He couldn't help it. Hawkmoth sat right next to the lawyer, in a black and white jumpsuit and handcuffs.

"In short, everything that wasn't claimed in damage reparation and fines is to go to you, Mr. Agreste." The lawyer, Adrien had forgotten his name, said as he looked up. "A few properties here in Paris, as most of the rest were seized and liquidated, and the rest of the fortune, currently worth about 8,000,000 euros."

Adrien nodded and then smiled his brightest smile. "I don't want it."

The look on his father's face was priceless.

"I...beg your pardon?" the lawyer asked, looking gobsmacked.

Adrien shrugged. "I said, I don't want it. Keep it around for when he gets out," he gestured to his father, "or donate it. Either way, I don't want to have anything to do with it. Can I go now?"

"B-but Mr. Agreste, you are literally throwing away—" The lawyer started. Adrien cut him off.

"I know, I don't care. I am going to make my own way and my own life. I don't need any money from him."

"Adrien," his father said, voice quiet as he stared at the table in front of him. "I won't ask for your forgiveness, I know I don't deserve it, but at least know that I did it for us. I wanted your mother back, and you needed her so."

Adrien felt his jaw clench tight. "If mom would have wanted you to hurt other people to help her, then she isn't the woman I remember. You spat on her memory every time you sent one of those akuma out."

He expected his father to glare up at him or to laugh or to do something that the Gabriel Agreste he remembered would do. Instead, he flinched. Adrien couldn't help his own puzzlement and surprise.

"I'm...sorry," Gabriel said. What disturbed Adrien most was that he sounded like he meant it.

He didn't know what to say to that, so he just looked to the lawyer. "Can I go?"

The man blinked. "Well, yes."

"Good," Adrien said, grabbed his jacket and left.

xXx

Smoke surrounded him, oppressive and thick, but he saw no flames. Not yet. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his oxygen mask.

"Over here!" he yelled to his team. "I found the stairs!"

The town home they'd been called to was in a residential part of the city. The fire had started on the ground floor and they had reason to believe an older woman was trapped in one of the bedrooms. They hurried up the stairs and got to the second floor.

"You go down that way, I'll be over here," his senior companion yelled.

Adrien nodded and headed in that direction, opening doors as quickly as he could.

He turned the hall and, to his horror, saw flames. Dutifully, he reported it, but they weren't huge yet, so he rushed forward. In the second to last room, he opened the door to see even more flames and an older woman huddled in a corner.

"Madam!" he called to her.

She went to stand, but looked rather weak. Adrien rushed through the flames, somehow knowing exactly where to step so that he wouldn't fall through the burning material. He scooped her up and then looked back at the door. After a few seconds, he judged that yes, he could make it through there.

"Is there anyone else here?" he asked her. She shook her head.

Nodding in relief and let the rest of his team know that he still hadn't checked the last door in the area, then gave them an update on the situation. Then he took a deep breath and rushed back through the flames and out into the hall. There were even more flames than before. Of course.

He still hurried back down the hall and the stairs and then he was outside, carrying the woman to the medical services. A younger man rushed over, tears in his eyes.

"Thank you," he said. "Thank you for saving my mother."

For the first time in a long time, Adrien felt like he'd come home.

xXx

It really hadn't been too difficult to get to the roof of the buildings downtown. Of course, he knew this area like the back of his hand – still – and so now he sat, looking over at the Eiffel Tower.

He'd gotten slaps on the back and pats all around for saving his first life. And he'd done it on his own. No super powers, no special treatment, no money backing him or his schooling. He'd worked his butt off to get here...and it felt  _good._

Maybe for the first time, he also felt like he didn't really  _need_  that ring. And wasn't that just the strangest thought?

He didn't know how long he'd been there before he heard a soft thump behind him. He turned quickly, ready to explain why he was there when he really probably shouldn't be, but his words died in his throat.

"L-Ladybug?" He did  _not_  squeak, no matter what anyone said.

She looked at him hard, her mouth open and probably ready to reprimand him for being where he probably shouldn't, but her words died on her tongue.

"Adrien Agreste?"

He also did not flush like he was a 14-year-old with a crush again. Oh, he was so thankful for the darkness.

"Um...hi?" he managed to get out. Then he mentally kicked himself. That wasn't something a mature man would say. It was something a love-struck teenager would say. He mentally despaired.

"What are you doing here?" she finally asked.

"Oh...I guess I wanted to be alone," he said after a moment. Then he turned to look back at the Eiffel tower. "And I always loved coming here."

He could practically hear her raise her eyebrow in confused surprise. "You did?"

"Oh, um," he backtracked, "well, not 'here' per se, but well..."

"You're used to this?" she ventured, walking up to sit by him.

He thought about that. "I guess so."

"I heard you gave up your entire fortune."

Adrien snorted bitterly. "I didn't want anything that man had to offer."

A silence. "You're really angry at him."

The blond brought his knees up and rested his arms across them. Was it just him, or did it feel a little chilly?

"He's Hawkmoth."

"He was."

Adrien almost snorted. "I would have thought you of all people would hate him. And me."

She snapped her head around so quickly he almost wondered if she'd given herself whiplash. "I could  _never_  hate you! Besides, you had nothing to do with him or what he was doing!"

"Hmm," Adrien huffed a little and set his chin on his arms.

"And honestly, I forgave him a long time ago."

That surprised Adrien. "You did?"

She shrugged. "He had his reasons for doing what he did. They weren't good ones, and he shouldn't have done it, but also without him, I don't think I would have ever become Ladybug." She smiled softly. "I wouldn't be who I am today."

Funny, Adrien hadn't thought about it like that before. Oh, he'd known he wouldn't have ever been Chat Noir, but Ladybug... He couldn't imagine Paris without her. It hurt a little to try.

"Oh," he muttered.

She chuckled softly. "I know a lot of people who are stronger because of what happened with Hawkmoth. I don't think it was justifiable, but...sometimes, I guess I think it might have been necessary. Now the world knows magic exists and can be used. There are new areas of science opening up and studying what they've found. It's kind of amazing. And none of it would have happened without Hawkmoth."

"He still hurt people," Adrien muttered, trying to ignore how petulant and childish he sounded.

Ladybug sighed.

"Yes. But he can't do any more damage now, and I don't think he's really  _evil_ , if you know what I mean. Just a desperate, heart-broken guy."

"Who didn't recognize what he still had," Adrien returned, more to himself than to her.

She sighed but didn't refute him. He'd take that as a win for now. Maybe.

"So," he said, figuring that a change of topic might be best, "have you heard anything from Chat Noir?"

She slumped and the spark in her eyes seemed to dim. "No," she said softly. "I don't know where he is or what happened to him, but... I hope he's okay."

"You don't know why he left?"

She shook her head. "No. My mentor said he felt like he wasn't worthy to be a hero anymore and gave up his ring." She gasped and put a hand over her mouth, looking over at Adrien in horror. "Don't tell anyone I said that!"

He held up his hands placatingly. "I won't, My Lady. I promise."

She froze and gave him an expression he couldn't read. "What did you call me?"

My Lady. He'd slipped up. He tried not to let his eyes go wide with horror and just forced a chuckle. "Sorry. If you don't want me to call you that, I won't."

She didn't say anything for a long time, just studying him for what felt like hours.

"Anyway," he said, "if you don't have to worry about Akuma anymore, then why are you still out here?"

The super hero scrutinized him for a few moments longer before she answered. "I'm an intern at the police department. They think that having a super hero around can be useful."

He raised his eyebrows. "The police department?"

She smiled at him. "Yeah. Funny, it isn't what I imagined myself becoming, but...I like it. I like helping people and there are some things I can do that others just...can't."

"Yeah," Adrien nodded in understanding. Then he smiled at her. "I think it suits you perfectly." He had to stop himself from using a pun there. She'd figure it out if he said something stupid like  _'purr-fectly'_.

The smile she gave him this time was small and embarrassed, but real. "Thank you."

"And I've become a fireman."

"Oh yes, I heard about that! You saved a woman today, right?"

Adrien couldn't help it. He preened.

"Yeah."

She grinned openly at him. "So you're a hero now too."

He paused, blinking. "Huh?"

Ladybug looked away for a moment, expression thoughtful. "I've come to realize just how under-appreciated heroes are. Real heroes. Heroes like firemen and women, policemen and women, nurses, doctors, first responders, servicemen and women... There are so many people out there who don't get the recognition they deserve. People like me, super heroes, sometimes I don't think we're the real heroes."

Adrien stared at her, eyes growing wider and wider as she continued.

A real hero.

"But My...Ladybug you've always been a true hero!"

The woman's smile turned humoring and slightly wry. "That's only because you don't know my identity. When I first got my powers I had no training, no knowledge and no real idea what I was doing. Don't spread this around, but I almost didn't keep them because I was so unsure of myself."

Adrien felt his jaw drop and his mind go blank. "B-but you're the best, My – Ladybug!" he insisted. "You always knew what was going on in all the fights! It was you who finally took out Hawkmoth!"

She shrugged. "But I had to grow into it, and I wouldn't have gotten where I am without my friends and family. I wouldn't have gotten here on my own. I don't think anyone could have."

Somehow Adrien felt like his entire world had just been turned upside down. Again. He hated that feeling. This was the first time he'd felt it since Hawkmoth's capture.

Suddenly Aristide's words from so long ago came back to him.  _You're putting her on a pedestal and then trying to measure up to that ideal._  He'd been right. Maybe not quite like he'd initially assumed, but still. Ladybug was a human, had been a teenager when she started, just like him.

And somehow he only loved her more for it.

He almost groaned. He didn't realize he had it  _that_  bad.

"Well, my boss will get on my case if I don't get back on patrol. Now," she raised an eyebrow at him as she got up and stretched. He couldn't look away. Yeah, he still had it that bad.

"I'll get down," he said with a sigh. It was just a rooftop after all.

"How about I take you down?" she asked. "And I won't tell on you this time."

He smiled.

"Thank you, Ladybug."

xXx

"Adrien! Long time, no talk," Aristide's booming voice came over the phone, making the blond smile.

"Hello, Mr. Therapist."

A pause. "Oh, it's one of  _those_  phone calls. Why can't you just call to say hi?"

Adrien laughed. "I called you on Thursday."

"Alright, you have a point. What's up, buddy?"

Adrien smiled softly. "I rescued someone today."

"You did? Good job, man!"

"It...felt good. Like I'd rediscovered something I'd lost. And this weird thought occurred to me, that I didn't need that ring anymore."

A long pause drifted over the phone while his friend digested that. "You think you used the ring as an excuse?"

"As an escape," Adrien replied, closing his eyes. "I hated my life growing up. Sure I had everything I could ever want, except a loving father and no friends. I begged my father to go to school, and when I got that ring..." He sighed. "It was an escape. Plain and simple."

"But you still liked helping people."

The self reproach faded and Adrien could smile again. "Yeah. I did. I really did."

"So you think you were using the ring as a crutch too?"

Adrien thought about that. "Yeah, I think I was. I didn't think I was anything if I wasn't Chat Noir." And how sad was that. He still understood why he felt that way, even if he didn't really  _feel_  it anymore.

"And now?"

Adrien took a deep breath and let it out. "Now...I am what I am. I've made myself who I am. I've...become who I want to be." Self sufficient and a hero. Not someone of his father's making and not someone of the world's making. Someone of his own making.

Another pause, but it felt softer than the others.

"Good for you, man. I'm proud of you."

Adrien smiled.

"Thanks. Me too."

xXx

Adrien sat in front of the glass, trying not to fidget nervously. Part of him wondered why he was here again, but another part of him knew he had to get this over with if he ever really wanted to heal – if he ever wanted to truly put his past behind him.

Gabriel Agreste, as put together as ever (how he managed that in prison, Adrien didn't know) sat down in front of the window, eyes wide in surprise. He picked up the reciever at the same time Adrien did.

"Father," he said slowly.

"I will admit, I didn't expect this," Gabriel said softly.

Adrien sighed. "Yeah. Well, I'm not going to lie. You were a pretty lousy father. I had every reason to be bitter and angry, you know."

The other man looked down. "Yes, I know."

The heat in Adrien's chest subsided and he forced himself to relax. "However, I've come to realize that you... care." He couldn't say 'love' right now, it was just too much. But this was a good start. He'd take it and hoped Gabriel would too, because he wouldn't be getting any different today.

His father looked up and for the first time, Adrien saw the age on his face. "I do, Adrien. I love you, son."

 _Then why couldn't you say that before?!_  Adrien wanted to say, but he didn't. That wasn't a question to ask today. This would take time to mend. Time and care from both ends.

Gabriel seemed to take Adrien's silence as a bad sign because he sighed. "Why did you come, Adrien? I'm terribly glad – relieved even – to see you, but we didn't exactly part on the best of terms."

Adrien frowned, part of him recoiling in pain, rejection. Gabriel didn't really want him here, did he? But he shook his head, clearing the insecurities as best he could and answered the question honestly, if a bit indirectly.

"Ladybug still patrols now, even without the akuma. Did you know that?"

Gabriel's face went blank. "I was aware, yes."

Adrien looked down. "I met her and...asked her about you. Do you know that she said she'd forgiven you a long time ago?"

He could see the surprise on his father's face, even though he tried to hide it. "She came to see me shortly after my initial incarceration... I... did not think she was serious."

He thought she'd been putting on a face. Adrien wanted to roll his eyes, but refrained (barely). That was such a Gabriel Agreste thing to think.

"Well, she meant it. She also said she didn't think she could have gotten where she was today without her family and friends supporting her. I'm pretty sure they don't know her identity, but she leans on their support anyway. I have always had good friends. It seems the only thing I'm missing is family. I... wanted that back and am willing to try to fix this if you are."

Fore several seconds, Gabriel just stared at him. Then he smiled, a sort of soft, sad smile that spoke volumes. "I'd like that."

Adrien smiled a real smile and felt a spark of hope. He didn't think he'd ever feel that towards his father again. It was a good feeling.

Then his father looked down at his hand. "You don't have your ring."

Adrien blinked at the non-sequitur and glanced at his hand. "Oh, yeah. I gave that back to its original owner a while ago."

Gabriel studied his son for several seconds. "You should get it back. Please don't let me come between you and your... friend."

The blond felt his eyes widen at the implication.

"You knew!"

"I suspected."

"For how long?" He couldn't help it if his voice sounded accusing.

To his credit, Gabriel took it all in stride. "Almost since the beginning."

"But why didn't you... I don't know, confront me or something?"

Gabriel snorted. "And risk the tenuous relationship we had? Besides, I knew you valued your... freedom. However, if an Akuma took something precious, though, and you never found out..."

Adrien couldn't help but just stare at his father for several seconds. Then he snorted. "We're seriously screwed up, aren't we."

His father shot him a wry smile. "That seems like a rather accurate statement." They shared a sort of amused, accusing, promising and annoying silence that held so much more than just that too.

"My initial statements still stands," Gabriel said after a few moments. "If you are looking to repair relationships, perhaps you should seek out your friend. If you returned to working together, I would feel better."

Adrien shook his head. "I've just come to realize I don't need it, Father. I like who I am now. I'm a real hero; a  _sapeur-pompier._ I've become who I am without the crutches I used to have to lean on and I'm happy."

Gabriel's face relaxed and it was only then that Adrien realized he'd never actually seen his father relax before.

"You've become so strong, and I am so proud of you, Adrien. You have risen far above my hopes and expectations. I know you don't need  _that_  anymore. But, don't you see? That is why, if you do go back, you will be able to do the most good."

Adrien frowned. No, he didn't see or understand what his father was trying to say. Why would he need to go back if he didn't need to go back?

Gabriel must have caught onto that because he sighed. "At least go and say goodbye properly then? You owe him that much. Please don't take after me. I thought I was the only important person in my relationship. I forgot that the other person was just that; a person."

It snapped into place and Adrien's eyes widened. He'd abandoned Plagg! Well, he hadn't, but what if the Kwamii felt like he had?!

Gabriel nodded in satisfaction that his point had been driven home. "I hope to see you again soon, son."

Adrien nodded, still feeling pale and unsure. "Yes. Thank you, father."

Then he practically sprang for the door.

xXx

It had taken him 45 minutes to get here, but he'd made it in record time. Gasping for breath, he looked up at the building in front of him and tried to ignore his stomach performing a gymnast routine. He still took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

The elderly Asian man, who somehow looked no different and yet frailer than he had just a few years before, came to the door. He blinked up at Adrien in surprise, but that melted away to a warm satisfaction.

"You're late," he said.

Adrien half-smiled, feeling sheepish and admonished. "I had a lot of things to figure out."

The man nodded and smiled (it was almost a smirk, Adrien realized with a sigh and a roll of his eyes). "I know. Come."

They walked inside the business and into the back room with the low table and the old, vintage turntable record player.

"Wait," Adrien said suddenly. Master Fu paused and glanced back at him. "Um...do you have any Camembert?"

The old man smiled and nodded. "Wait here."

Somehow just waiting for those few minutes seemed far longer and more intense than almost anything he'd had to endure before. His stomach still felt like it held all of Hawkmoth's hoard of butterflies.

When Master Fu came back and set a tray with an all too familiar smell wafting from it on the table, Adrien smiled. This brought back memories. And while they were still uncomfortable, they didn't hurt anymore.

He watched as the old master walked over to the record player and opened the secret compartment. Then the familiar box of the Miraculous. Then the box holding an all too familiar ring.

The butterflies turned into a raging hurricane.

Taking a deep breath, he slowly reached forward and picked the ring up. It always felt so smooth in his hands, but warm. Never cool. He could sense a thrum of magic in it as well. He gulped and glanced up at Master Fu who just smiled kindly and nodded encouragingly.

Then, closing his eyes, he slipped the ring on.

"Oh, it's you. What do you want?"

Adrien opened his eyes to see a little, black Kwamii. He'd folded his arms and glared up at Adrien with the most serious expression the blond could ever remember seeing.

"Heh," was all Adrien could manage as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Um, here?" He held out the plate of cheese to the Kwamii.

Adrien almost expected Plagg to go straight for the plate. The cheese had always seemed to trump everything before. Instead, though, the cat raised an eyebrow at the offering and then looked up at the blond again.

"Where were you?"

The former model's smile fell and he looked down. "I told you, I didn't feel worthy of the ring. I didn't feel good enough for it. For you."

The cat's eyes narrowed.

"And do you now?"

Adrien studied the (justifiably) angry cat for several seconds before he looked away again. "No."

He dared peek back at the Kwamii who had just raised one unimpressed eyebrow.

"But I feel worthy of myself," he finished, sitting up straighter. "I had a lot to work out, confidence issues, family issues...and I had to get there by myself. I had to know that I could."

"Relying on someone else isn't a weakness," Plagg practically growled.

Adrien fixed his gaze on the Kwamii again. "No, it isn't. But using them as a crutch is. I was using you as my escape and that wasn't fair, to me or to you, and I'm sorry. I had to get to a point where I didn't use people as crutches anymore. I had to learn to stand on my own two legs."

Plagg's expression had gone rather blank.

"And have you?" he finally asked.

Adrien felt himself relax and the confident smile that grew on his face felt so natural. "Yes." The smile dimmed a bit. "I understand if you don't want to forgive me, but I wanted you to know at least. I didn't want to leave things on bad terms."

The Kwamii sighed. "I won't lie to you, kid. When you left, it hurt. A lot. But, I understand more than you think."

And there was that blasted spark of hope again. Adrien couldn't help it.

"But you owe me a whole heck of a lot more cheese than that!"

With that, the Kwamii practically dove onto the plate and began to devour its contents.

Adrien couldn't help it. He laughed.

"You'd better not leave me behind again, though," Plagg said through a mouthful of cheese. Adrien never could understand how the Kwamii could be legible with that much stuffed into his mouth.

"I promise," the blond replied. "If it's within my power, we'll be partners for life. Well, my life."

Plagg paused, cocked his head at Adrien and then swallowed what he had in his mouth. "You really have grown up, haven't you?"

Adrien blushed a little. "I hope so."

"So, what made you change your mind?" Plagg asked. "I get the feeling something did."

"Well," Adrien said softly looking down at his hands and then turning his hand over to see the white ring, "It was a lot of things, but most recently, my father."

Plagg's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Alright, kid, you gotta fill me in on everything."

Adrien laughed. "Well, it all started on the day we beat Hawkmoth. After I left here, I got back to the mansion just in time to see Nathalie and the gorilla get carted away, along with most of the rest of the staff. Then the police saw me and escorted me..."

xXx

Sargent Cavel Caron sat in his office going over the paperwork for his firemen, almost finished with what he had to get done for the day and looking forward to the evening. It had been a long day, but a good one. There had been a few incidences, but no loss of life on their end. Those were the best kinds of days.

He had just finished filing some copies of his reports when he turned around and saw someone standing at attention in his office. He may or may not have let out a squeak of surprise. Then he realized who it was.

"Ch-Chat Noir?" he asked, almost not believing his eyes.

The super hero went from attention to swinging his baton around in an obvious display of skill before setting it down and taking a bow. Show off.

"Sargent Caron," he said with a smirk.

The Sargent raised an eyebrow, unable to hide his amusement. "So, you're back in town, huh?"

The cat grinned at him, full set of gleaming white teeth. "Yup. Had to take care of some family things. But now I'm back and, hopefully, better than ever."

It was the word 'hopefully' that made the Sargent realize the brash super hero had changed. He made a mental note of it and sat in his chair, gesturing for the hero to do the same.

"What can I do for you?"

"Well, you see, I spoke with Ladybug the other night and she told me that she's on a special team with the police department. I considered joining her, but...well, I have some training in fire fighting and this appeals to me more. I was wondering if you'd be willing to make a similar arrangement for me."

Cavel blinked. He hadn't been expecting that.

"Well," he said slowly, "I'd have to speak with my superiors. Would you have any stipulations?"

Chat Noir's smile seemed softer and far more genuine this time. "That's why I came to you," he said, almost to himself. That made the Sargent blink in surprise. Before he could ask, though, the man in the cat suit went on. "Well, I have another job, and the hours aren't that consistent. I could usually give my schedule to you about a week in advance, maybe a little longer. Also, my identity stays secret. It's part of the reason I can keep my powers, so that's non-negotiable."

The Sargent frowned. "Those are some rather difficult stipulations."

The blond sighed. "Yes, I know. But I figured that I'd ask first. After all, having a super hero who can destroy anything on your team might be worth it."

Yes, it would.

"We'd have to set up some sort of payment plan," Cavel said slowly, thinking through the implications.

"The police have worked out something for Ladybug. You may want to talk to them about it," Chat Noir pointed out helpfully.

The Sergent nodded. "Is there any way I can reach you?"

Chat Noir blinked, face blank. "Oh, um, not yet, but I can get a phone tomorrow."

"Then why don't you come back tomorrow and give me your phone number. I'll contact you when I have an answer."

The super hero stood and bowed gracefully. "Thank you, good sir! I really appreciate it. Well, I'll leave you to finish your work, then. Night!"

And with that, he jumped out of the window.

Cavel sighed. This might be a good thing, but it would honestly just mean more paperwork, no matter what happened.

xXx

He was sitting on the exact same roof in the exact same spot, admittedly in a far more cat-like position, with his knees up and his hands in front of him. He was looking out at the Eiffel Tower and just taking Paris in when a familiar thump sounded behind him.

"Adrien?" a voice asked.

He turned around and grinned at her. "Not quite, My Lady."

Ladybug froze and a hand flew to her mouth in a gasp.

"Chat?" she asked hesitantly.

"In the flesh," he said, leaping off the cement he'd been sitting on, doing a few flips and then sticking the landing perfectly. Then he took a bow.

"Chat!" Ladybug shrieked and launched herself at him. He caught her as she threw her arms around his neck.

"Well, if I'd known I would get a reaction like that, I would have left and come back sooner."

She shifted and then stepped back, angry tear-filled eyes glaring up at him. Then she punched his arm.  _Hard._

"OW!" he yelped, rubbing the spot where her fist had connected.

"You stupid cat!" she yelled at him. "You were gone for  _years_! No note, no message, no  _nothing_  except from Master Fu who said you didn't feel worthy of the ring anymore! How could you just  _leave_  like that?!"

He rubbed the back of his head again, unable to hide his shame.

"I'm sorry, my lady, but I...had some things I had to work out."

She still looked like she wanted to punch him again, but her voice was steady as she spoke. "Were they important?"

He paused, but met her eyes squarely.

"Yes."

She sighed. "Did you get everything sorted out?"

He smiled softly. "It took me a while, but yes."

Ladybug studied him for a while before nodding her head. "Good. If you ever leave again, I'll hunt you down and beat you from here to London, got it?"

Chat Noir laughed. "Of course, My Lady. Now, why don't you fill me in on what's been going on since I left."

She sighed and took a seat next to him, sending a text to her boss that said she would be late coming back from patrol.

xXx

The girl across from Aristide giggled at his words, covering her mouth with one perfect hand and then lifting it to place a loose strand of red hair behind her ears. He couldn't help but drink her in. She was gorgeous and perfect and everything he'd ever wanted in a woman and...

Why did his phone have to buzz and ruin the moment?

He glanced over at it, saw who it was and sighed. He really should probably respond to Adrien.

"Sorry, Jaquline," he apologized and went to pick up the phone. It was a text message at least and it had an attachment. Curious, he clicked on the 'download' button and a picture of Chat Noir popped back up. The text at the bottom read:  _You may want to delete this as soon as you get it, but Chat Noir's back and ready for action! He's most likely going to join the_ _sapeurs-pompiers_ _in Paris. Go figure._

Just as he was about the put the phone down, another text rang through.

It only said one word:  _Merci._

He smiled and typed out:  _Anytime._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some notes on French Firemen, aka sapeurs-pompiers (and there are a few other designations, like the marine fire fighters and such) seem to be far more militarized in France than they are here in America. I did some research, but couldn't find everything I wanted to know. Just remember that I've never been to France (sadly) and so this is my best guess on how things could/would/might work out. No offense was meant and if people will tell me where things are different, I'd appreciate it.
> 
> Anyway, there seems to be 3 ways to get into fireman service in France. 1. Junior Firefighter service which can start as early as middle school. If one is a volunteer Junior Firefighter for at least 3 years, they can get drafted into becoming a volunteer but paid fireman/woman (about 12 percent of the force there is comprised of women). 2. Military. I'm not quite sure how, but the military makes up a notable, if small, percentage of the sapeur-pompier work force. 3. The national firefighter school, located in the south of France near an air base. Since I DO know schooling, I decided that would probably be the best route to go.
> 
> Hope this wasn't too bad. I felt it was too fast, but since I was only going for a one-shot...*shrug*
> 
> Also note that I am taking prompts for this fic. I'm not guaranteeing that if you put something here that I'll write it, as this is kind of a "I don't feel like writing anything else, let's get past the block with something silly and fun" thing, but I'm all for ideas. This is, after all, a bunny hutch. ^^;


	3. Filling The Hole

Surprisingly, it wasn't the loss of powers that hurt worst. Oh, she hated it, and it became a large part of the constant, underlying pain that accompanied her everywhere these days, but that she could have lived with.

That on top of losing everything else though...

The Miraculous had to be hidden. There were very powerful people who wanted a stab at Magic, so, after they'd defeated Hawkmoth, everyone had agreed to give the Miraculous to the new Guardian and he went into hiding. Marinette wasn't sure where Nino (and Alya, because she refused to let him leave without her) had gone, and she didn't  _want_  to know in case people found out about her.

The loss of the ability to fly through the streets of Paris on her magic yo-yo hurt, but losing those friends hurt more.

Losing Tikki hurt the worst.

They'd been more or less inseparable for the last four years. It had become second nature to ask Tikki's opinion on something or to go to her for advice (whether she'd listened or not).

Now, as she prepared to go to school, she found herself doing the same things.

"Tikki, what do you think of..." she'd start, holding up her latest design sketch only to realize that no one would be there to answer.

Or she'd hear a scream in the street and look down to her purse only to realize that it would be empty. Sometimes she still opened it and peeked anyway, almost expecting (and desperately wanting) a little red head to poke out.

Or she'd grab an extra handful of cookies and be half-way up the stairs before she realized that there wouldn't be anyone up there to eat them.

She usually ended up eating them herself. She didn't have the heart to care about the few extra pounds she'd put on recently.

Adrien, she knew, felt similarly. They hadn't spoken much since Nino had left, but she had caught glimpses of him. At least he waved to her when she  _did_  see him. And then he tried to force a smile. And then he'd hurry away and she could only watch on with a sinking heart. What had happened to her  _Chaton_?

Marinette didn't know exactly how to react when she saw the former model withdrawing into himself. She didn't get to actually  _see_  him often these days either. They no longer went to school and needed to prepare for their future endeavors, not to mention Adrien had been dealing with all of the pressure of being Hawkmoth's son, and she knew it had taken a toll on him. No one wanted anything to do with him anymore (something he was actually grateful for) so finding a job had been difficult. Fortunately, he'd had a trust fund that had been turned over to him at the age of 18 and he was living off of that in a flat somewhere.

She had to admit that that also hurt, to not know where her partner was. It also hurt to not have him  _there._  Oh, she knew she could call him, but every time she went to try, she couldn't seem to put the call through, this time for an entirely different reason than her middle-school crush awkwardness. Part of her felt so abandoned, but she knew he needed time. She may not have known that about Adrien (to her shame), but she did know that about Chat.

Most often she'd be able to catch a glimpse of him in a particular neighborhood where she'd gotten a job. She could have sworn she saw him standing in front of a cheese shop a couple of times, staring dejectedly at the store front. The third time she saw this, about three months after Nino's departure, she decided enough was enough.

Knowing he'd be there for another few minutes at least, she walked inside the shop. As suspected, he didn't even notice.

Camembert was a lot more expensive than she thought it would be, but she figured that a few slices would work just fine. She picked out an assortment of others (she'd always been rather partial to havarti herself), paid for it and walked back out to see him in the exact same place. It was a warm, sunny afternoon and he still managed to look like a broken, half-drowned cat.

Rolling her eyes, she walked over to him and held the bag in front of his nose.

Jumping, he turned to her so quickly she thought he'd given himself whiplash.

"M-my...Marinette," he said, avoiding Chat's nickname of her. She couldn't help but be grateful for it. Paris still didn't know, and she'd like to keep it that way. As it was she almost couldn't hide her wince.

"Here," she said. He took a hold of the paper bag and looked inside. The look of pain that crossed his face almost made her think she shouldn't have done this, but then he relaxed. He closed the bag and his eyes and took a deep breath before shooting a watery but very real smile at her.

"Thank you," he said softly.

"We both lost our best friends," she said. "We're all we have left. I know you need time, Cha...Adrien," and she'd almost slipped herself. They really were in the same boat. "But when you need someone, call me. You're my partner after all."

He sniffed and tried to brush the tears away from his eyes before she saw, but didn't even come close to succeeding.

"I'll keep that in mind," he replied, voice soft.

Marinette smiled at him, then lifted up onto her tip toes to put a kiss on his cheek. Since when had he gotten so tall?

Then she disappeared back into the crowd, heading to the fabric shop she'd decided to visit on her lunch break.

xXx

The next day, she received a delivery of chocolate cookies. Gourmet chocolate cookies that Tikki would have absolutely loved.

Even though tears rolled down her cheeks in streams as she ate them, they tasted very good. It didn't fix anything, but it did require that she thank Adrien later. From what she knew of her partner, the box wasn't just a 'thank you' for cheering him up. It also meant that he was ready to help support her and to let her support him. It meant that they could work on getting through this together. And that, she figured, was a very good start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It just occurred to me that miraculous holders wouldn't ever really be alone after they took a miraculous...


	4. Guilt and Grief

Initially, Gabriel felt like he'd been doused in ice water. Now he felt a sort of disconnected numbness that had settled over him like a thick layer of dust. The only other thing he felt was the nausea, but his brain couldn't seem to process it.

Chat Noir had died.

Chat Noir...

Chat...

Adrien.

First his wife had vanished. Now his son was dead. He'd only just gotten married...

The single word from the news reporter kept running through his mind, even as he continued to try and process what he'd just heard.

Chat Noir was dead.

Naturally he'd died heroically, defending thousands of people from a bomb and a terrorist. Used his cataclysm to utterly destroy the actual bomb, bypassing the detonation device and the wires completely.

The threat hadn't even been magical.

Dead.

He'd studied the footage of Ladybug as she watched. He'd seen the horror on her face, how she'd paled and called forth her lucky charm. She'd been able to capture the bandits. Of course she had, she was Ladybug. Then she'd gone for a miraculous cure...but it hadn't brought him back. A bullet to the face (multiple, if the reporters were to be believed) wasn't magical, and thus wasn't something magic could cure.

Not like that.

_Dead_ **.**

She'd rushed over to him. There had been a pause...and then a scream. He would remember that scream until the day he died. It would haunt his memories and his nightmares alike.

It had reverberated through his heart because he had screamed like that when he'd realized his wife wouldn't be coming back.

_**Dead**_.

Then she'd taken his ring because there had been whispers of 'Adrien Agreste' running through the crowd, and the news person said they'd only just sent word to his wife, who wasn't available for comments.

Of course not.

Ladybug had taken the terrorists and the ring and had vanished. No one had seen the terrorists since. They would undoubtedly know by now, first hand, that angering a Miraculous holder wasn't the best idea for their health. Especially not by killing their...

_**DEAD!** _

_**ADRIEN!** _

His lungs seemed to have frozen and the world faded around him. He tried but couldn't  _breathe_.

"Oi, Agreste!" a rough voice called out to him.

He didn't respond.

Couldn't respond.

"Hey! Hawk Moth!"

His mind didn't even register that someone was calling him until someone pushed him over. Blinking, he glanced up at the man next to him. Another inmate who didn't seem to hate Gabriel like the others did. He also looked about as put-together as Gabriel normally did. Short, well-trimmed, brown hair, and a lithe build. He'd been a thief – a cat burglar of all things.

The memory of that next to what he'd just been thinking didn't help, but the shove had gotten his head cleared enough for him to come back to Earth. He'd have to thank the man in the future.

The man, who rarely spoke (one of his finer qualities in Gabriel's opinion) gestured with his head over to the rather annoyed prison guard.

"Come on, you have a guest."

Gabriel blinked and turned to his fellow prisoner, who just shrugged, and then back to the guard.

Trying to gather as much dignity as he could, he stood, straightened his uniform like it was an Armani suit, and walked over. He knew it wasn't up to his usual standard, but his  _son_  had just  _died_.

Seeing him on the screen had only driven the point home.

He followed the guard without really noticing where they were going, and was thus rather surprised when he was led to an area where he could interact with people, live. No glass, no phones. He wondered exactly how the person sitting stiffly at a table could have pulled that one off. Unless, Ladybug had called in a favor.

Yes, he supposed that had to be it.

Glancing at the guard, who seemed rather bored about the whole situation, Gabriel strode over and sat in front of a very red-eyed Marinette Dupain-Chang-Agreste. She didn't look up at him as he sat. Part of him wondered if she even knew he was there.

"Madam," he said softly.

She didn't speak for several seconds, but he could wait this out. He'd just lost a son. She'd just lost a husband. He could give her some time to say what she'd come to say.

"I guess you've heard, then."

His breath caught in his throat for a moment and the lump returned with the nausea. He had to swallow it down.

"Yes."

She looked up at him then and he noted the dark circles under her eyes. She scrutinized him for several seconds before she seemed to find what she'd been looking for because she nodded. Then she took a deep breath, brought her hand up and placed a ring on the table. A black ring with a green paw mark on it.

He blinked at the ring, and then at her grim but determined face.

"I... am not sure I understand," he finally heard himself say.

She took a deep, shuddering breath. "I do," he heard her quiet voice, somehow lined with steel. "I finally do."

He started to put it together, but she went on in the same tone.

"I don't have the spell that will activate the wish. You do."

A hope began to rise inside his chest as his eyes widened. Then he glanced down at the ring again, sitting so innocently on the table.

"You'll cooperate?" he asked slowly.

She sniffed and nodded.

"Tikki will hate me... but I... I can't. It was my fault. It was all... Oh... Adrien!" she broke down into sobs then. He didn't call her on it, didn't judge her for it, but didn't really know what to do to comfort her. So he just sat there, trying to think of something to say. He supposed he could tell her that it wasn't her fault. He'd even mean it. He'd seen the footage and his reckless, foolish son had made a choice. He supposed he could tell her that while the pain never really passed, it would lessen with time; that she was acting out of grief and guilt, not out of love.

He could... Except...

He reached up and took the ring and slipped it on. A little, black Kwami appeared. He seemed confused, but then he saw who held his ring and his eyes widened. Then he turned to a crying Marinette.

"Traitor!" he hissed, uncaring of her emotional break down.

Gabriel ignored him and stood. Then he put a hand on Marinette's shoulders.

"Come. Let us bring back those we love."

She sniffed again, nodded and stood with him.

The guards never stood a chance.

xXx

AN: I guess I like the emotional and terribly sad ones. Go figure. They always seem to come easier. *Scratches head*


	5. Dad Jokes

He'd been suspecting it for a while, but the latest Akuma Victim really cemented it.

“My Lady,” he said slowly, “Hawk Moth names the Akuma as far as we know, right?”

 She frowned at his non-sequitur. “As far as we know, why?”

 His expression reminded her of someone either desperately trying to work something out, or repress something. “Is it just me, or does Hawk Moth like puns?”

 She blinked at him, pausing from where she was swinging her yo-yo. Then she looked back at the Akuma.

 “Oh, my...” she muttered, before fading off. Then she seemed to think about it. “You have something in common with Hawk Moth,” she finally said as if the revelation broke her brain.

 Chat frowned. “Me-ouch, My Lady! Please! My jokes are of much higher claw-lity than lame villain puns. His are much worse.”

 The red-clad girl stared at him for several seconds before bursting down into giggles. “I'm not so sure about the quality, kitty, but you may have one point. Hawk Moth doesn't use puns... he uses Dad Jokes!”

 They ended up laughing for a good four or five minutes before they could get themselves together enough to go and stop the akuma.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said the next one would be "The Team", but I had to put this in here! Because seriously, his akumas....


	6. Oblivious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tikki and Plagg do a lot of face-palming.

It had been quiet on the Akuma front lately.

Too quiet.

Both Ladybug and Chat Noir agreed that Hawk Moth was up to something... something  _big_. He'd have to strike sometime, and when he did, they'd have to be ready. So they'd begun to make up a list. After a bit, it came to their realization that there should be two lists of about equal length: those inside College Francoise Dupont and those outside.

Ladybug didn't notice how quiet Chat Noir had become when they realized this because she was too busy internally freaking out herself. She couldn't help but wonder if she was some sort of influence. Was Hawk Moth drawn to her school because of her? Was she getting the people around her akumatized somehow, just by carrying the Miraculous in there? Was Hawk Moth able to track them somehow, just not pinpoint the Miraculous? Or was it a guess? Or was there another reason? Did his niece's enemy go there or something?

Well, wouldn't that be a coincidence (she made a mental note to look into Chloe's extended family, just in case). Still, though, she'd gotten to a point where she wasn't sure she believed in coincidences. Why did she just so happen to go to the school where the most people had been akumatized? She decided to go over a list later that night, once she was away from Chat so she didn't give her identity away, of how many akuma victims had a direct connection to her.

Little did she know that her partner had more or less gone through the same thought process.

"A-anyway, we need to come up with a list of potential akuma victims."

"Can people be akumatized twice?" Chat asked, scratching his head.

Marinette paled a little and  _really_  hoped her partner didn't notice. "Oh, I hope not," she whispered.

"Me too," he agreed in just about the same tone.

"Well," she said after a moment, "no one has been yet. So let's assume," for our sanity, "that they can't or that it's more difficult somehow."

Chat swallowed and nodded.

"Right, so we need to make a list of people who haven't been akumatized, preferably from the school since it seems to... well, be a target." He looked away guiltily. He didn't notice the exact same expression on Ladybug's face.

"Well," the super heroine started slowly, "I know someone who goes to that school. A...cousin."

"Oh?" Chat's ears perked up. "What a coincidence. Me too."

Ladybug blinked. "You do?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said, giving her a similar look. "You won't tell me your cousin's name, will you."

She shook her head. "Would you give me your cousin's?"

"If you really want me to," he responded hopefully.

"Chat..."

He sighed. "I know, I know."

"I'll ask my cousin to make a list of people in the school who haven't been akumatized. You start work on a list of people outside the school."

The blond frowned. "You'll ask your cousin to do all the work?  _Cuz_ that seems a little one-sided there, My lady."

Ladybug rubbed the bridge of her nose and decided to ignore it. "I'll help you, of course," she replied with a roll of her eyes. "We'll go over the family and work places of anyone who has been akumatized and see if we can find a pattern. Maybe..." she paused and swallowed.

"My lady?"

"What if he's somehow connected to all of them? What if he, I don't know,  _works_  at the school? Or goes there?"

Chat's green eyes widened in disbelief. "You don't really believe that, do you?"

She shook her head. "I hope not, but who knows?"

"If he went there, wouldn't he be a little young?"

Ladybug bit her lip. "Well, I'm only a teenager myself. Why not Hawk Moth?"

Chat Noir closed his mouth with a clop.

"Right," he said after a few moments of heavy silence.

"And the only time we've actually ever seen Hawk Moth was through his swarm of butterflies. We don't even know if 'he' is actually a 'he'."

Her partner looked thoughtful, if worried, at that.

"So maybe, if we figure out this list of people, we might find a link to Hawk Moth."

Ladybug's mouth thinned into a line. "I don't know, but it's worth a shot."

"In that case we need to add onto the list the akuma's victims. Who did they go after first?"

"Right," Ladybug said, then looked over the list of victims and sighed. "This...will take some time."

Chat Noir nodded grimly. Then he smiled brightly. "Well, it's about time for me to head home," he said, standing up and brushing his suit off.

"Y-yeah," the heroine agreed. Chat didn't usually call off their meetings. The fact that he did this tie caught her by surprise. Maybe he had somewhere to be or a test in the morning or something. Shaking her head, she leaned down and began to gather up her things. Chat quickly joined her, bending down and putting most of their stuff into random bags they'd brought them in (Ladybug hadn't thought showing up with anything that could relate her to Marinette was a good idea and apparently Chat thought the same).

"We should get started on those lists and get together on Friday, whether an Akuma attack comes up or not," she said.

He thought about it. "Friday. That should work, although 4 whole days without seeing My Lady..."

She rolled her eyes. "If you have anything, leave a message with your baton. Good nigh, Chat." With that, she bounded away, not looking back to see him watching her go.

xXx

Adrien knew that he really should work on the lists for the people outside of school like Ladybug had asked him, and he'd started, he had, but...

It bothered him, what he'd realized.

The kids in his class and school, idols he'd interacted with... _his father_. So many of these people had connections to him. And not just Chat Noir, but Adrien. A few didn't, the artist, the little girl (and her mother), the mime, the pidgeon guy... But that list was much shorter. Most of the others, had a connection to him either through interaction or proximity.

So that begged the question: was he indirectly causing the akuma attacks? Well, no, Hawk Moth was causing the akuma attacks, but was he somehow drawn to Adrien's proximity? And if so, was it just the ring? A few other people (Marinette's grandmother, for instance) had been turned, after all, but why were they attracted to him and not Ladybug? Because there wasn't another severe concentration of Akuma attacks anywhere else.

Somehow, he figured his bad luck was to blame.

So he'd compiled a list of all the people in his school who hadn't been akumatized...

And found everyone in his class had been except for one person.

Marinette.

Adrien gulped when he saw her name as the only one that hadn't been crossed off.

Perhaps he'd found Hawk Moth's next target.

xXx

"Marinette, calm down," Tikki begged from her spot on the corner of Marinette's desk.

The dark-haired girl didn't even pause. "How can I calm down, Tikki?! You saw the list! The next person to be attacked...it's going to be Adrien! I just know it!"

The Kwami didn't look convinced. "How do you know, Marinette?"

"Look! It's a list of everyone in our class, and everyone who has been akumatized! The akumas are drawn to me, Tikki! There's no other explanation!" She pointed to the list on her computer of people in her class and the people who had been akumatized. The names of everyone who had been akumatized had initially been changed to an orange color. Everyone who had been akumatized who had a connection to Marinette had been changed to red.

There weren't a lot of orange names left (the fencer girl just recently, Adrien's father – although she  _had_  been the one to take his book – the fencing teacher, the artist...but almost everyone else had a connection to  _Marinette_ , not just Ladybug), and only one black. Adrien Agreste.

"Well, what about the orange names?" Tikki asked.

The heroine shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe I passed them without knowing it? Or maybe they're somehow connected to Chat? Is he drawing akuma too? I don't know, but we have two different fencers... Oh, no! That could mean Adrien's next even more!"

The girl continued to fret and Tikki just had to sigh.

"I think you're reading too much into this, Marinette. If Adrien hasn't been akumatized yet, there's probably a reason."

Marinette paused and looked over at Tikki for the first time in several minutes. "Y-you're right," she said after a moment. "If anyone could fight off Hawk Moth, it would be Adrien. Maybe he's just too perfect?

"Either way, I'd better keep an eye on him, just in case."

Tikki hit her forehead.

xXx

Marinette's general 'let's keep an eye on Adrien' plan didn't actually cause a huge change in her routine or life (she didn't think about what that said about her) until she noticed that she was running into her crush a lot more often than she should. Yeah, sure, she'd keep an eye out for him during school, follow him to his fencing lesson on the days he had it, follow him to his shoots and what not, but there were times she  _knew_  he was supposed to be at home and yet...

One time she knew he normally studied, he surprised her by coming up to buy some ice cream from the same street cart Alya and Marinette had stopped at before they planned to head home. Marinette jumped and screamed and Adrien offered to buy her more ice cream when hers fell on the ground. She refused, but he did anyway. Even Alya said it was strange to see him like that, but he could have easily talked his driver into it, or maybe a shoot went long or something.

Except he didn't have a shoot today.

Seriously, what?!

Still, Marinette couldn't say that she was upset to run into him.

It happened a few more times and a few more days, but all innocently (to a point where Alya thought Adrien might be following  _her,_ although she had no idea why he would do that) ...and then things started to get weird.

Her mother had taken her to buy some new underwear and she needed a special kind of bra to wear with a dress she'd been designing. Meeting Adrien there at all was practically unthinkable, and yet, there he was when she rounded a corner, arms full of unmentionables.

They both kind of froze for several seconds and Marinette felt her face go straight through 'tomato' and into 'volcano' territory. Really, could anyone blame her for more or less throwing everything into the air with what was most definitely not a shriek and making a bee-line for the dressing rooms?

She wasn't sure exactly how she felt about Adrien being in a woman's underwear section. Unless he was just passing through to get from one side of the store to the other. Except, the section was in the back corner.

Horrified. Yes, horrified was a good word to describe her right now, except, for multiple reasons.

He hadn't been there when she'd come out and had avoided her for a day or two afterwards.

Alya, of course, just thought the whole situation was hilarious.

xXx

Ladybug and Chat had been working on building a list of potential victims for those outside of the school for over two weeks now, and while they had a few people who seemed to have some sort of connection to each other or to other people in their lives who could be Hawk Moth, the two super heroes didn't really have any concrete proof, only a few guesses here and there.

It was frustrating, but both she and Chat seemed to have found a few people they could watch for either akuma attacks or for proof on being Hawk Moth on a fairly regular basis. Neither one of them would give a full list, as that would give too much away, but they were fairly confident that if Hawk Moth attacked again, that they would be able to figure out who fairly quickly.

Which was probably why the next Akuma attack took her by surprise.

She actually saw it as an update some random person had posted on the Ladyblog. She just hoped Chat was seeing the same thing.

"I've gotta get down there!" Alya said, determined. Then she took off in the direction of the attack.

"I'll see you later, then?" Marinette said, half-heartedly as she backed away, ready to turn and find a side street to transform. Alya didn't even bother to turn back.

Marinette's grin faded to her own determination and then she turned and ran down a nearby alley...

And straight into Adrien.

"Ow, I...Oh..." She blushed as she saw who she'd run into. "A-adrien! H-hi! You're here? I mean, I'm sorry I was here! Well, not that I was here really, but that I ran into you and I...um..." she looked around, noting his nervous expression. "What... were you doing?"

"Uh, there's an akuma attack. I'm supposed to hide whenever my driver isn't around."

"Oh," she said with a nod. That made sense. "Well, I'm... um... going to go try and find Alya."

"Weren't you just with her?" he asked, confused. "You ran in the opposite direction."

She very nearly went catatonic (and did go very red) at his words. "You... were watching... me?"

The fact that he went red just caused her to blush more. She didn't realize someone could blush this much without dying on the spot.

"Um... I was just walking by when I saw you and was going to come and talk to you when I got an update about the akuma."

"O-oh," she said.

"It's okay though, you can stay here. I'll go."

"No, wait," she protested, but he was already jogging away to the other end of the street, where he turned the corner.

"Oh, man," she muttered to herself, "I can't stay here now."

So she turned back the way she came and ran down the street to another alley and turned the corner, and ran right into Adrien.

The fates hated her today. Wasn't she supposed to have  _good_  luck.

He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. Then he looked at his phone, which hadn't rung at all.

"Well, will you look at that, my driver is waiting for me. Gotta go."

It took her several minutes after he left before she could speak coherently enough to transform.

xXx

She and Chat took care of the Akuma, fist bumped, promised to meet again later that night to try and figure out where they'd gone wrong before they'd managed to get back to their lives (whatever his was). She wasn't sure if the fact that she didn't run into Adrien as much after that was a good thing or a bad thing.

xXx

Sometimes, Plagg could sneak under the desk and into Marinette's purse without being seen. It wasn't that difficult for someone like him, who was used to being stealthy and silent (even if Adrien was none of those things... _ever_ ). It did require the right timing though, and he didn't do it often. There was just too much of a chance that Marinette or Adrien would need them.

But sometimes, he really just had to vent.

"Well," he said to the red Kwami after they'd shut the purse, "we've officially met the two most oblivious holders ever."

She sighed. "Well, at least we know the magic is holding."

"The magic protecting their identities isn't infallible and you know it. People have found ways around it before. These two are just...just..."

"Frustrating? Naive? Adorable?" Tikki finished.

Plagg shot her an angry look before sighing. "Yeah."


	7. Loop-de-Loop

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For WilhelmAres who gave me the idea. :)

The familiar melody broke through the silence and Marinette opened her eyes to her pink bedroom, tiredly blinking at it before she groped on her night stand for her phone. Her hand found it and went to shut it off...again. She couldn't help but hope that she'd see a different date on her phone but no.

Then she groaned and seriously contemplated staying in her room all day, completely ignoring what the others had to say. She was sure she could convince her parents she wasn't feeling well and they'd be able to field most of the intruders that would come looking for her. She could take care of the rest herself.

"Marinette," Tikki's tired voice said from beside her ear.

"I'm taking a day off," she grumbled.

Tikki sighed. "You tried that before."

"Yeah. It felt good then. I'm sure it will feel good now."

She could just imagine the little Kwami putting her hands on her hips as she huffed. "You felt guilty about it for days afterwards."

Marinette wanted to snort. Poor choice of words, even if it did sort of work. She didn't snort though. She was too exhausted to snort. Or do anything else, really. Not physically exhausted, but emotionally.

"I'm so tired of this, Tikki. Nothing we do works."

A pause. "Well, it is kind of tiring I guess."

Marinette blinked and rolled over before fixing her Kwami with an incredulous gaze. "You guess?"

"Well, I am a Kwami. We've been around humans for ages and ages. I always meet a holder and then have to let them go – for all sorts of reasons, never to see them again – and then I go to sleep and a few decades or centuries later, I meet another holder."

The dark-haired girl felt sadness swell in her heart and she finally found the energy to wake up and lifted herself onto her elbows to look over at her Kwami. "Oh, Tikki. I never realized... I guess the situation we're in isn't all that different to you, is it."

To her surprise the Kwami shook her head. "No, it isn't that. That's something that, while it's sad, I've gotten used to it. I make sure to enjoy the time I have with my wielder. And as far as this goes, this means we can be together longer!" She giggled. The teenager sighed, but it seemed fonder this time.

"Besides," Tikki went on, "In all the years I've been around, I've never actually been in a time loop before." She grinned.

Marinette groaned, flopped back down on her bed and threw the covers over her head, ignoring Tikki's giggling. Maybe if she concentrated hard enough the world would just go away for a little while.

xXx

Somehow, Tikki managed to get her out of bed and supposedly on her way to school. Her parents would know by the end of the day that she hadn't actually made it to class...but she didn't care. It wasn't like they could ground her. Well, they could, but the day would reset and they wouldn't remember a thing. If she actually did wake up grounded, she'd probably shock them both by kissing them.

Instead, she turned and headed towards the Agreste mansion. If she was lucky, she'd meet Alya or Nino and miss Chloe. Then again, she hadn't seen the girl for 3 straight resets now, and Marinette still found it to be a relief. Miraculous holder or not, she still had issues getting along with the blond. She couldn't help but wonder what their lives would be like if they hadn't all been caught in this blasted time loop. Would she ever have guessed Chloe was Queen Bee? Or that Nino had his miraculous? Or Alya? Or that Adrien was...

Yeah, that one still made her blush.

But then, they'd also never know that Gabriel was Hawk Moth, and he wouldn't know who they were. Although, to his credit, he was doing everything he could to get out of the blasted time loop too. It was too repetitive and tiring and there was only so much you could do when your day lasted 12 hours.

At least the Akuma attacks had stopped, and would stop indefinitely. Actually, they'd struck a deal that they'd all agreed to pitch in and help find Adrien's mom if Hawk Moth helped them get out of this. That's what Alya and Nino had been working on in their loops. It was probably the only reason why the two of them still seemed so excited and chipper while the rest of the miraculous holders could barely drudge up the energy to get out of bed.

Slumping up the stairs of the mansion, she knocked on the door and looked up tiredly at Nathalie's severe face.

"Ah, Marinette," she said blankly. "You're later today than you usually are, but you're still welcome to your food. It's on the table in the usual spot."

"Yeah," she muttered to the single non-miraculous holder in their little timelooping group. "Thank you. I had a hard time getting out of bed."

Then something occurred to her and she turned to look up at Nathalie. "How do you do it?" Because the lady didn't seem tired or upset in the slightest. It could be a mask, but she doubted it. "It's like the time loops don't affect you at all."

The lady shrugged. "My life has actually changed very little. As long as I stick to my schedule, I do more or less the same thing I've always done."

Suddenly Marinette felt for this woman and her (apparently extremely repetitive schedule).

"Besides," the woman replied with a smirk as she glanced down at the teenager, "this normalcy is what gets me through these loops."

The dark-haired girl raised her eyebrow at the woman and then managed a smile back. They walked the rest of the way to the dining room in a companionable silence. Nathalie opened the doors so Marinette could see an empty hall save for one person with blond hair sitting at the table across from a plate of food, his head buried in his arms. Oh, and his black Kwami who sat near him gorging himself on cheese, like normal.

Marinette sighed.

"Thank you, Nathalie," she said, more as an acknowledgment than a dismissal. The woman still nodded and left to attend to whatever she attended to at this point in time.

She sat down at her plate and picked up the fork and knife, digging into the crepes she found there eagerly. It had actually been a large part of the reason why Tikki had been able to get her up. That and...

"Hi, Adrien."

She managed to say it without stuttering and was very proud of herself. When she wasn't concentrating, she still sometimes slipped around him.

He shifted and raised his head to look at her blearily. Then his eyes lit up.

"Marinette," he said with a genuine smile. Then he flopped his head back in his arms. "At least I get to see you every day. That makes it worth getting up." She barely heard his muffled voice and had to blush scarlet at what he said. Then she decided to ignore it.

"So, what do we do today?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Alya and Nino have gotten to a point where I just can't follow their conversations anymore," he said, turning his head to the side so he could be heard better. "And who knows where  _father_  is." He almost spat the word and she could swear she heard a slight, very cat-like hiss. He hadn't taken the reveal well to say the least. Not that she blamed him.

Marinette swallowed the food in her mouth and frowned. "Adrien, you need to talk to him."

She said it again like she'd said it for the previous hundred times, but she was determined that they would do something about it today.

"Yeah, well, he doesn't seem to want to talk to me."

Her frown deepened. "How do you know that?"

He looked up, the dry expression he gave her the only one that seemed to link Adrien and Chat together in her mind. "He isn't here. Ever. Any day. He's always holed up in his office trying to learn something about the artifact. He just wants out of the loops and then he wants mom back." And the flash of hurt that shot through his eyes stabbed at Marinette's heart.

"So you guys can be a family again," the dark-haired girl insisted.

Adrien snorted. "Yeah, a super hero and a super villain and... whatever mom was," because she'd had a miraculous but they knew precious little about her and his father didn't seem to want to say anything about her..

Well, tough luck.

Marinette finished eating and then stood, hands on her hips.

"Adrien Agreste, we are  _not_  going to sit here and..." she paused, thinking of the right word.

"Cat nap?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood. It backfired as her eyes narrowed.

"Have a pity party," she corrected. Then, ignoring her red cheeks (she felt it, even if she couldn't see it), she got up and marched around the table. She didn't dare look at his questioning expression as she grabbed his arm and pulled him up.

"Come on. You've been putting this off for way too long."

"Marinette," he protested, "This...this is a bad idea."

"Why?" she asked as she stalked through the door. "Your father has answers. Ask him about her. Ask him  _why_  he thought that this was the best way? Because even if it was, at the time, the fastest solution, it certainly wouldn't endear him to her if he succeeded. Ask him  _why_  and don't take no for an answer!"

"But Marinette, this is my  _father_  we're talking about! He never just answers questions like you want them! I think it goes against his nature."

She stopped and turned to him, eyes narrowing as she stuck her finger in his face. "Adrien Agreste, you are far too young to be that bitter!"

He blinked at her for a moment before backing down.

"Yeah, you're right. It's just... Hawk Moth."

That caused Marinette's posture and expression to soften. "Yeah, I know, Adrien."

"It's...it's not  _fair,_ " he suddenly burst out. "Did he really think that he'd just get away with everything, scott free? Didn't he think that if he happened to get caught that he could be put in jail and any hope of finding mom would vanish? And what would happen to me then? I'm only 15! The son of a super villain. Yeah, I'm sure Paris would  _love_ that. That's if they didn't think I was somehow helping him! And Mom! Why did he think that this magical way was the  _only_  way?! Did he even do any research to find any other way? Magical or not? How many people does he have to hurt before he realizes that  _this isn't the answer_?"

Marinette felt her heart break a little more with every sentence.

"Oh, Adrien," she said softly.

"Those are...good questions," a new voice said behind them. They both whipped around to see Gabriel Agreste standing there, posture as rigid as always even if he couldn't seem to meet their eyes.

"You two are... very loud," he said, although she couldn't decide whether it was an explanation as to why he was there or a reprimand. Still, this was as good a point as ever to get the two to talk. So she got behind the younger man and pushed him forward.

"Marinette!" he hissed.

"Talk to him!" she whispered back, just as intensely.

Before he could, though, Gabriel started.

"I suppose you are right. I did not consider... all of the consequences when I chose this path. I was too desperate and I... did not think it would affect you. Although, to be fair, I didn't know about your Miraculous at the time."

Marinette saw Adrien's fists clench and thought that maybe he'd been right after all and this should wait.

"Whether I have a Miraculous or not shouldn't matter!" he said back angrily. "Actually, you're lucky I can take care of myself. If I didn't have a Miraculous,  _then_  what? Would you just continue to hurt the people of Paris? Continue to ignore my existence?"

Gabriel watched his son for several seconds before he looked down. "I have never ignored your existence."

"Could have fooled me. Do you have any idea how easy it was for me to sneak out as Chat Noir? As long as I stayed in my room, like a good little boy, I  _never saw you_. When I wasn't the perfect son you always wanted, it was worse. That disappointment – utter  _disdain_  – I'd see on your face... It wasn't worth acting out. So I never  _did_ , hoping that  _one day_ , if I did everything you ever wanted me to, that you'd actually acknowledge me!" Adrein stepped back, red in the face as he scoffed. "What an idiot I was."

The older Agreste, for once, didn't seem so stalwart in the face of his son's tirade.

"If I said I was... sorry, would it help?"

Adrien considered that for a moment. "I don't know," he finally said, voice raw and honest. "It's a start, but it doesn't make what you did okay or right. It doesn't excuse you and... well, I just... _don't know_. I don't know you anymore and I feel like you  _never_  knew me. Not really. And you never  _wanted_  to. I don't know if I can trust that you really mean it..."

He paused and took several deep breaths, "Even if you do mean it, you still have a lot of making up to do, and I don't know if it's possible for you to earn my trust again."

An uncomfortable silence fell between them and Marinette wished she could just leave – to stop intruding on the moment – but didn't want to move and draw attention to herself.

"But," Adrien said after a moment, his voice soft now, "I love you. I hate myself for it because you've done  _so_   _much damage_ , but I love you, father. So... I'm willing to give you a shot, I guess."

He shook his head, pointedly did not look up at his father before he turned and stalked away. Marinette went to follow him, but she paused and looked back at Gabriel with narrowed eyes.

"He's giving you a second chance. Don't waste it."

Then she was off.

Gabriel looked after them, watching as they vanished out of site around a corner, most likely to transform and head out into the city.

"I don't intend to," he said quietly.

xXx

This idea came from WilhelmAres. Thanks so much! :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, I have a whole idea for this arc, but if I get into it I will get SUCKED into it and I have at least 4 other stories to finish. And one more Ladybug one. Because I seem to really enjoy cartoons for 14-year-olds. What does that say about my mentality? *sigh* 
> 
> If you all want more of what happened in this particular line, let me know, but I dunno if I'll do much with it.


	8. Extraoridnary

It took her a bit to figure it out, mainly because she was so busy protecting Paris from Hawk Moth that it never occurred to her to look deeper. But something Tikki mentioned in passing had made her stop and think.

"All your class mates are pretty amazing, Marinette," she'd said. "You're very lucky."

At first she'd just hummed and dismissed it because, well, Chloe.

But then she was just sitting in class one day when she started to really see what her kwami meant.

Max could make AIs that didn't just learn, but  _felt_. She'd seen Alix's family watch and the girl's physical prowess had had pre-Miraculous Marinette in awe. Actually, she still felt in awe sometimes. Kim was the same, albeit in different fields. Nathanael could draw better than some pros she knew and Alya had to be the most dedicated (and successful) reporter her age. Nino's music boggled Marinette's mind and Adrien...well, he was Adrien. The smartest, sweetest, most gorgeous, most  _perfect_  person on the planet.

It took her a while to figure out the other students, but then she noticed just how hard it was to truly get Rose angry. Even when she'd been an akuma, the girl hadn't been violent at all, going so far as to brainwash people to fight for her. Other Akuma would tear up the streets or destroy buildings and landmarks without a second thought, but Rose had been all about  _persuading_  (admittedly against their will, but still) people. Juleka had a way of seeing outside the box on more or less every subject and expressing herself that one didn't really expect from someone with such a shy personality. Once you got past Mylene's own shyness, she had a way of cutting to to the point that outshone just about anyone Marinette had ever met (and she was really talented and expressive too). Ivin had a sharp mind, especially when it came to expressing himself with poems and lyrics, not to mention he was more or less a bit of a human wrecking ball all on his own.

Even Chloe had a single-minded dedication to the things important to her that bordered on scary and she'd never seen anyone as organized or able to do as much work as Sabrina.

It made Marinette wonder just where she stood in the class. She was a pretty normal girl who went to school with the extraordinary, it seemed. Public school or not, she couldn't quite believe that everyone else in her class was so exceptional just by happenstance.

So she'd brought her observations up to Tikki.

The little Kwami had just studied her holder for several seconds before sighing.

"I think it's my magic."

Marinette blinked. "What?"

"Magic takes what's already there and makes it... well,  _more_. Depending on what aspect the magic focuses on – which is usually what that person is focusing on most – it can change people. Because I'm in the class so much, and because everyone's been akumatized, the residual magic in that classroom must be taking what is already there and enhancing it."

The dark-haired girl could only stare at the Kwami.

"You mean...because I'm in that class, it's  _mutating_  them?"

Tikki's expression fell flat. "No." Then she sighed and her regular, patient expression returned. "My magic is the magic of creation. It takes what people love and helps them to accomplish it better, to catch onto concepts regarding it more easily and to help them push their bodies to endure longer. The more driven someone is, the more the magic can help. Even with you, Marinette."

The heroine couldn't help but be taken back. "What?!"

"Haven't you noticed that you're getting more creative with your designs? Or that you come up with ideas and solutions for your sewing projects faster? It isn't an unnatural advantage because you would have gotten there eventually, but the residual magic just helps to speed the processes of discovery and learning up. But because you're Ladybug, you've been exposed to more of it, so the magic helps in more aspects. You've noticed that you've gotten stronger and faster in your civilian form than you were before, right?"

Now that Tikki mentioned it...

Her answer must have shown on her face, because the fairy continued.

"That's because of your drive to succeed as Ladybug. If you weren't driven to do it, the results wouldn't be there. It's as simple as that."

It didn't sound that simple to Marinette. And despite Tikki's words, it did feel like an unfair advantage...but she'd need that advantage to eventually deal with Hawk Moth, so she couldn't complain  _too_  much.

"So this has happened before?" the heroine asked her kwami slowly, just double checking that they were on the same page.

Tikki rubbed her chin. "No. Well, not to this extent."

Marinette's eyes widened in worry. "What?"

"Well, normally, in the past, our holders didn't often go to schools and what not. Due to the secrecy necessary, they'd often withdraw from interacting with other people and weren't around them enough to really get noticeable effects. While schools aren't a new idea, our holders haven't really been in the position to go to school like this. It's only been in the past few hundred years that the normal populace even has the  _opportunity_  to go to school in such a way. Now you and I are using magic regularly, and we expose the class to it every single day. We're in the same room for hours on end. Of course it would affect them somehow."

"But not my parents?" Marinette asked worriedly.

Tikki shook her head. "You see your parents every day, and they love you very much, but they don't get eight hours of exposure directly to me and you for eight hours a day. When you get home, you usually come up here to your room to work on homework or your projects. You see your parents for dinner and then they have to go to bed because they wake up so early in the morning. Even when you work in the shop with them on Saturdays and Sundays, that's still only one to two days a week, and most of our magic is contained in this room. I wouldn't be surprised if there were affects with them, but it will be more subtle."

"O-oh. And it's not... dangerous?" the heroine had to double check.

Tikki shook her head. "No, I don't think so, but we can go an talk to Master Fu about it if you think it would help you feel better."

Marinette thought about that for a second. "Yeah, that would help, a lot."

"Alright. How about after school tomorrow."

"Great," Marinette nodded, relieved.

Then something occurred to her.

"Well, I guess we should be happy Chat Noir isn't in my class," Marinette said with a grin as she got out her homework. "If this is what exposure to one Miraculous on a regular basis can do, imagine what exposure to two would do!"

For some reason, Tikki just chuckled nervously at that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was playing with the idea of having them all be mutants with minor powers, but it didn't work out.


	9. Red-Spotted Herring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which an Akuma finally gets ahold of Ladybug's earrings...

"I have you now, Ladybug!" the latest akuma victim, a woman who had been having problems at her herbal remedy store calling herself 'Motherwort', cackled in triumph as she lifted the teen in the air with one large, meaty arm. She'd blown something in the super heroine's face that had more or less frozen her body. She couldn't seem to move anything except her lungs as she coughed and coughed and coughed.

"My Lady!" Chat said from where he was fighting with her minions. The akuma had many herbs that did different things. One of them brainwashed people into following her. Naturally. At least she hadn't caught Chat this time.

Ladybug's throat constricted and her breath caught. She struggled to just keep breathing for a moment before the akuma reached forward, towards her earrings.

"Wait! No!  _Ladybug!"_ Chat yelled, throwing his current minion off and racing forward.

He wouldn't make it in time.

She was beginning to feel her fingers again and willed them to move...

It felt like the world slowed down...

Her hand twitched.

_Come on,_  she thought as the hand got closer and closer.

She grit her teeth.

"I have it!" Motherwort crowed, holding an earring up in the air.

Marinette couldn't fight off a smirk.

The akuma must have noticed something was wrong when Ladybug didn't revert. Chat's tail had been caught by the minions, but they all stared over in either anticipation or horror... and then confusion.

Motherwort frowned and went for the other earring, managing to get it just as Marinette got enough movement back to shove her off.

The akuma held the earrings in the air triumphantly, but then looked down in time to see Ladybug throw her yo-yo. It wrapped around the akuma and Chat managed to get away from the minions long enough to cataclysm the woman's small, brown hat, the only part of her that wasn't some shade of green and thus what they had concluded held the akuma.

They'd been right, apparently, because the little, black butterfly flew out of it, and Ladybug made short work of cleansing it and throwing the yo-yo in the air.

She hadn't even had to use her lucky charm this time.

The lady just sat in the street, dazed. Chat let out a breath of relief before turning to her with a grin and a fist in the air. "Bien joue!"

They helped the lady to stand again and she insisted she didn't need any help. After they saw her on her way, Chat turned to her and opened his mouth, but his ring let out two beeps and he sighed.

"It seems this cat must scram," he paused and she could see him peeking at her empty ears curiously. "Before I go, though, I have to ask: she got your earrings. Why didn't it do anything?"

Ladybug grinned. "Because, kitty, my Miraculous is that of Creation. It isn't that difficult to change the shape of the earrings. The ones I had in my ear I made by hand. They were a red-spotted herring."

Chat's eyebrows rose. "Wait, did you just make a pun?" His eyes lit up, but then he seemed to remember he wanted to ask something else and tapped his chin. "And Change the shape? Into what?"

The girl giggled. "A belly button ring."

The blond's eyes widened. "A WHAT?! And I can't see it?" he whined, looking at her stomach.

"Nope," she said with a smile and flick of his nose. "Goodnight, kitty."

With that, she threw her yo-yo and swung off, hoping he hadn't seen her blush.

xXx

Marinette studied the Miraculous in her stomach, biting her lip. One black jewel on top, one in the middle of the belly button.

"I can't believe that our plan worked!" Tikki said excitedly.

"Yeah," the dark-haired girl agreed. "I'm glad we came up with that or I might have lost the Miraculous today."

Tikki grinned, then noticed Marinette's worried expression.

"What's wrong, Marinette?"

The teenager sighed. "I'm going to have to tell mom and dad about this sometime...and they're going to  _kill_  me. Not for wanting to get it, I don't think but for doing it behind their back." She winced.

"But you're safer as Ladybug like this."

Marinette sighed, dropped the shirt and went to lay down on her bed. "You're right, Tikki. I am safer. And that  _is_  worth it."

With a slow shake of her head, she decided to tell them in the morning and laid down to go to sleep, ignoring the slight, raw pain in her stomach from the healing piercing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously, Chat needs to wear his ring on his toe and Ladybug needs to get a belly button ring or something.


	10. Like Father, Like Son

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Gabriel discovers that Adrien is far more like him than he is comfortable with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Under the pretense that Hawk Moth doesn't know or even suspect Adrien is Chat Noir. So Gabriel never saw Adrien's ring.
> 
> Warning, Angst to follow and Major Character Deaths.

It irked Hawk Moth to no end that it hadn't been one of his akumas that finally put an end to Ladybug.

It had been a bus. A  _bus._  On a bridge, nonetheless. It had been a rather rainy day in Paris when a car had swerved to miss a stray dog. The semi truck in the next lane over had swerved to miss the car a little too hard and had crossed two lanes of traffic to hit the railing, skidding along it. The city bus that swerved to miss the wreckage left in the semi's wake had followed suit and hit the railing at just the wrong spot.

Ladybug had appeared on the scene a few minutes after the crash and used her super strength to hold the front of the bus down on the bridge while the passengers got out. It had been going as usual and Hawk Moth had been watching with a sort of seething rage. Just as he went to turn the television off, though, it happened. Simple as it was, Ladybug had slipped on the wet rubble and hit her head. Her yo-yo, which she'd used to hold the bus down and tied to her wrist for leverage, had gone over the edge, taking Ladybug with it.

Hawk Moth had just watched in a sort of stupefied shock and waited, with baited breath (along with the rest of Paris, for once) for her to resurface.

She hadn't.

Chat Noir had arrived a few minutes later, talked to a few of the public service people on site before getting this expression of horror that made Hawk Moth want to smirk. Then dived right over the side of the railing, his super suit protecting him from what would have killed a normal person. He'd been down there for quite a while before he'd emerged with a body clutched to his chest. Then, he'd rushed off, supposedly to a hospital.

Hawk Moth could only hope. The water this time of year wasn't extremely cold (which would decrease her chances of recovery), and she'd been under water for a minimum of fifteen minutes, closer to eighteen. At least part of that time, she was dazed or unconscious. The suit protected whatever it covered to a large extent, and the rest to a much smaller extent, and she must have been dazed to allow herself to even be dragged into the water... At this point, though, Hawk Moth could only hope.

Chat must have detransformed on the way because Hawk Moth couldn't find the hospital Chat Noir had taken Ladybug to.

Later, the super hero had confirmed in a sort of mechanical, emotionless voice that Ladybug had died.

Hawk Moth celebrated, naturally. The pain in his neck that was Ladybug was finally gone. Now he just needed to figure out a way to track down her Miraculous and it should be infinitely easier to steal.

The next day, Adrien didn't come down for breakfast. That's when he found out that one of his son's friends from school had died in an accident. The Dupain-Chang girl. Gabriel mourned the loss of such a great talent and knew his son must be very upset, so he decided to cancel all of the boy's classes and give him some time to mourn. After all, Gabriel was strict. He wasn't heartless.

Adrien could have the day off and return to his studies tomorrow.

Having done that, Gabriel went back to his work and his hobby of figuring out what to do about Ladybug's and Chat Noir's Miraculous.

He sent another akuma out that evening.

Chat Noir didn't show up until well after midnight, which in and of itself said a lot. Why would he let the akuma cause so much damage when it couldn't be fixed. At first, it made Hawk Moth hopeful. The boy didn't laugh, or joke, or waste time. He came in, brutally efficient, and took the akuma out without even using his cataclysm. It was the sneakiness of his attack that took both the akuma and Hawk Moth by surprise. Normally, the boy just charged straight in.

Hawk Moth studied the boy as much as he could on the news feeds reporting the fight. He seemed so different. Quiet and terse instead of loud and distracting. Then he must have realized that he could no longer be the distraction. The super villain had seen Ladybug do similar things when she realized she couldn't rely on her precious partner, and he couldn't help but wonder if it was a result of having a miraculous or just a trait of people chosen to wield said Miraculous.

The super hero had finished the fight, grabbed the akuma with his hand and then rushed off.

Hawk Moth had  _tried_  to have the akuma possess  _something_ , but the magic of the suit and the ring had prevented him from being able to do so.

Then, somehow, the akuma had passed out of his ability to sense. He didn't know what Chat Noir had done, for it hadn't been destroyed or purified, but he no longer had a connection to it.

Frustrated and upset, Hawk Moth had retreated yet again.

Only the fact that Adrien looked about as bad as Gabriel felt when he came to breakfast the next morning really broke through the haze of vexation.

"Adrien," he said slowly, "you do not look well."

His son actually shot him a dark glare, as if to say, 'really? I didn't notice,' sarcastically. Before Gabriel could reprimand him though, the boy just sighed.

"I didn't sleep well, father."

Gabriel frowned, unsure whether he should reprimand his son or let it slide. "Is it because of your classmate?" he asked.

Adrien couldn't quite hide a wince.

"Yes, father."

"I didn't realize you were so close," he replied, surprised.

His son muttered something that sounded an awful lot like 'no one did,' before he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Gabriel raised one eyebrow in surprise and suspicion. Had they, perhaps, been closer than he'd realized?

"Were the two of you in a relationship?"

This time, Adrien actually looked green and didn't bother hiding his wince.

"Something to that affect," he replied. His voice sounded so... dead.

Gabriel's frown deepened. It reminded him of himself after... "While I am disappointed you would keep something like that from me, it seems you have been punished enough. Do you require another day off of school to mourn?"

His son looked surprised, and then relieved, and then resigned.

"No. I'll be fine."

Gabriel shook his head. "I insist. I will have Nathalie make the arrangements. You are given today to do as you wish as well."

Adrien's surprise seemed to morph into a disbelieving shock.

"R-really?"

"Why would I tell you otherwise?" Gabriel asked, perplexed. Did his son expect him to lie or joke over something such as that? The older Agreste didn't joke much at all these days, especially about business, and as of right now, they'd have to reschedule at least one photoshoot. That would cost money, but it was something Gabriel was willing to do if it helped his son.

Adrien looked down, still seeming surprised. Perhaps Gabriel had been working him too hard lately? Perhaps an explanation would help him understand.

"I know what it's like to lose someone close to you," the older Agreste said by way of explanation.

Green eyes slowly turned to look up at him. Gabriel wanted to say more, wanted to tell his son that it would pass with time and that he needed to focus on the future and on making it better... but none of it would come out. Wasn't he enough of a hypocrite already?

"Your driver will be instructed to take you anywhere you would like, within reason of course."

His son stared at him from across the table. Then he said, in a voice so quiet Gabriel almost couldn't hear him.

"I think... I'd like to be alone."

The older blond nodded. "Understandable. Still, the option is there if you would like."

Adrien seemed to study him for a few moments before he nodded. "Thank you, Father."

They made small talk for the rest of the meal, Gabriel informing Adrien what his schedule for the next week would be. Then they parted ways, and Gabriel went to work. He was too busy to send an Akuma out, though.

xXx

Adrien didn't look much better the next day, but he needed to realize that life moved on, and so he would have to move on to as well. Thus, he went off to school as Gabriel headed to work again. He was preparing for a show, and so, he didn't have enough time to send an Akuma out that day either.

xXx

The next day, he  _finally_  had some time and visited his secret lab. Of course, as he opened his window and felt for someone's anger and negativity, he realized he could, indeed, feel his own son. His emotions roiled. The sense of loss and frustration and hurt and anger... He would make a fine akuma. Except, Gabriel couldn't, in good conscience, do that to his own son.

He couldn't really feel out anyone else's emotions that day because Adrien's were so strong and  _so close_. So he ended up being unable to send an akuma out.

Although that did bring up the question, why did he feel Adrien's emotions now and not the day he'd sent out his akuma before? If he didn't know any better, he'd say there had been something protecting his son, but the emotions had finally built to a point where he'd overpowered said block. But then, what could Adrien possibly have that would have protected him? It wasn't like he knew magic, and Hawk Moth would know if he had Chat Noir under his roof, and since he was the only other Miraculous Holder active at this time...

No, it couldn't be.

Perhaps the boy had still been in shock initially? Yes. Shock. That had to be it.

xXx

"Your friend from school, the one with the red hat," Gabriel told Adrien the next day at breakfast, usually the only meal they shared, "he is no longer banned from this house."

Adrien blinked, again, seeming surprised. But then he shook his head. "It's alright, father. I wouldn't ask him over anyway. I would still prefer to be alone."

Gabriel frowned. "Having others, people who share your emotions, around can be very helpful," he said slowly, hoping that Adrien wouldn't call him out. After...  _she'd_  disappeared, he'd more or less locked himself in his room for weeks afterwards.

The teenager simply scoffed. "No one can understand," he said. "No one knows what she meant to me. May I go?"

"Adrien," Gabriel started, but his son sent him such a scathing glare that he couldn't help but close his mouth. Anything he said now wouldn't get through. So he sighed.

"You may."

"Thank you."

He didn't send out an akuma that day either.

xXx

This was getting ridiculous. He'd have to find a way to power past those strong emotions and get an akuma out there if he wanted to find Chat Noir, who most likely had or at least knew of where Ladybug's earrings were now.

It took more time and concentration than he wanted to admit, but he was finally able to push past Adrien's emotions and find someone to akumatize. It was a woman near Adrien who had had a very long day, apparently, because she was very frustrated with her child.

Hawk Moth could relate.

Once she accepted him, though, he could no longer feel the emotions of anyone else, including his son. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

He'd really have to do something about Adrien.

Fortunately, Chat Noir seemed off that night; angrier and more willing to take out that anger on the akuma. Considering that the akuma had no qualms about pushing his buttons and asking him if he were guilty he'd let his Lady die, it wasn't that unexpected. Unfortunately, she also repeated some of Hawk Moth's words as to how easy it was to manipulate his feelings. After that, the hero managed to pull himself together, and he finally got to the necklace that the akuma had possessed. It hadn't been difficult for him to tear it off and then grab the butterfly after a few tries.

Hawk Moth growled and wondered if he could set up another 'accident' for the cat boy as well.

xXx

Adrien seemed... off again. Except not exhausted and devastated like before. He didn't speak (which was unlike him) and all his movements seemed reserved – controlled, as if he no longer felt the need to be open in an any way.

"Are you feeling better, then?" Gabriel asked warily.

His son glanced up at him. He didn't smile, didn't stutter and didn't... well, show any emotion as he said, "Yes, father. Thank you." Then he went back to eating.

Somehow that unnerved Gabriel more than anything and he didn't know what to do about it.

xXx

Adrien had always been a bright boy with a freely given smile and a warm heart. For the longest time, it had caused Gabriel to despair for his son. He was so welcoming and kind hearted... the world would tear him apart. He'd tried to help his son as best he could, protecting him and preparing him in every way he could conceive, even going so far as to keep him home schooled (until he'd insisted on attending public school) until he was satisfied that Adrien would be ready to face the world.

It had helped, but Gabriel knew Adrien still wasn't prepared and had begun to grow suspicious that his son would never change.

Except he had.

No longer did Adrien smile or laugh or even glare. No longer did he give passionate speeches or talk back at all. He never asked for anything and would gladly sit through a meal in silence. He'd crack a smile for a photo shoot, but at no other time would he so much as sigh.

Funny, once Adrien had finally gotten to a point where he would fit in well in the business world, Gabriel realized him pushing his son in that direction had been a mistake. He'd wanted his son to be strong so he could stand against the world, yes, but he'd also wanted him to be happy... and now...

It was starting to really bother Gabriel, but he still didn't know what to  _do_  about it. Part of him wanted to force the boy into therapy, and part of him wanted to just hug him until he felt better, but he could bring himself to do neither. He doubted Adrien would welcome his advances right now, anyway.

As the days continued to pass, Adrien just seemed to withdraw more and more. He rarely, if ever, hung out with friends and he didn't seem to have any  _drive_  anymore. Just how close had those two been?!

And then, one day about two weeks after Ladybug's death, he heard a knock at his door.

"Come in," he said, not really surprised to see Adrien walk in, resembling a robot for all the emotion he showed.

"Adrien. What can I do for you?"

The boy just stood there at ease, with his arms behind his back, and lifted his chin. "You were right, father. I should never have attended public school. I am here to ask if you would please withdraw me and if I can continue my studies at home."

Gabriel couldn't help but blink, allowing only that to show his surprise. Adrien had been  _adamant_  about attending school. Part of him was grateful his son had finally come to his senses and decided to stay at home where he'd be  _safe_. The other part of Gabriel, though, knew this was not a good development.

He never thought he'd fear the day when his son began to turn into him.

"You know you cannot simply push others away when you hurt. It is a defense mechanism that seems like it will protect you, but it won't," he heard himself say, somehow brushing off the old psychology classes he'd attended in University. The same memories of psychology classes that he'd purposefully buried after his wife had disappeared.

Adrien's eyes narrowed. "Says the man who did  _just_  that."

Gabriel felt his own expression cool. "Excuse me?"

His son considered him for a moment, all calculation. "I would like to focus more on my studies. That is all. I am asking you to withdraw me. Please."

The older Agreste couldn't help but be proud, even through the growing worry. His son had stopped acting so rashly and actually looked past his feelings to provide an argument that would help him get what he wanted. It had been clumsy and obvious, but it was  _there_ , and somehow it simultaneously gave Gabriel even more unease and relief. This Adrien could take care of himself.

And this Adrien needed to be around people.

"It would be inadvisable to do so now as I will have problems setting up your tutors," he said finally. It was a weak excuse, and they both knew it. Gabriel had the money that would have the right people come running.

Would Adrien call him on it though. It would be very difficult to do so tactfully, at least at this point. His son had three choices: Withdraw to fight the battle another day (defensive), to set a time limit (compromise) or to make a threat (offensive). And apparently he knew it because Adrien didn't answer for a while.

"Next month, then?" he finally asked through clenched teeth. It actually relieved Gabriel. It was the most emotion he'd seen his son give. And he'd decided to go for the compromise, huh? The old Adrien would have simply withdrawn. Gabriel would have threatened. Perhaps there was still hope here.

"I will endeavor to make the arrangements."

Adrien bowed stiffly, but his mask of indifference had already fallen back over his face.

"Thank you, father."

He turned to leave. Before he did, Gabriel called out to him.

"Adrien." His son paused and looked over his shoulder.

The older blond cleared his throat. This would not be easy to say. "You have always reminded me of your mother. You look like her, you think like her, you act like her... but you are my son as well. A little known fact about Agrestes is that we  _feel_ , quickly and deeply and thus we are more susceptible to heartbreak than others. At times it may seem the better option to cut off your emotions entirely, as I did. I... urge you to find a different way to cope. I fear I may not have made the best decisions. And even though my path now is locked, it... doesn't have to be that way for you."

He couldn't read the emotion that crossed his son's features as he spoke, but  _something_  was there at least. Puzzlement? Confusion? Contemplation? He could still almost hear the gears in the boy's mind turning.

Then Adrien turned. "Yes, father," he finally said and left.

The way he said it didn't make Gabriel feel any better.

xXx

"Now, Chat Noir, give me your ring!" Hawk Moth urged the akuma, Geek Squad (a boy who had been teased for his love of all things 'geek' and who could now make copies of himself) to say.

To his surprise, the super hero cocked his head to one side.

"Why?"

That seemed to take the akuma back too.

"Pardon me?"

Chat Noir shrugged. "Why? Why do you need the Miraculous? Do you plan to take over the world? To rule Paris? Or do you have another reason?"

Hawk Moth's eyes narrowed. He'd made that mistake before. "None of your business," he said.

Geek Squad repeated him.

Chat's eyes narrowed. "You want me to give up the most powerful object I possess, the one and only freedom that I have, and you won't even tell me why? Give me a reason, Hawk Moth. Give it to me, and we may be able to come to a compromise."

Geek Squad seemed at a loss while Hawk Moth deliberated. Should he tell him? He remembered very well what had happened with Robostus. And yet something drove him to tell his enemy the truth.

"Using the Miraculous together will grant a wish."

Chat's eyes widened, then narrowed again. "What kind of wish are we talking about?"

"I would wish a certain event in the past didn't happen," he decided to admit, somehow sensing this boy was a little more open than he ever had been before.

The blond's eyes widened. "That powerful?" He tapped his chin. "How many wishes can they grant?"

Hawk Moth blinked. He had him. He had the boy if he just played his cards right.

"Any user who has both of the Miraculous can use them. At least one wish per person."

Chat was quiet for a long time. Then he took a deep breath. "What would you change?"

The super villain grit his teeth. He  _really_  didn't want to get into that. At all.  _Especially_  not with Chat Noir. But if he didn't...

He decided to be truthful but vague.

"My wife vanished a while ago. I would undo the events that led up to her disappearance."

Chat's eyes grew wide in surprise. "Seriously?" he asked.

Hawk Moth felt his fists clench. "Yes," he said simply.

The boy seemed to contemplate that. It occurred to Hawk Moth that the hero could just run off and grab the Miraculous and use them himself, now.

"All of this is, of course, only possible with a certain spell that only I know," he added on, hoping it didn't sound too hurried. Then again, Geek Squad was delivering it and tended to do so with more confusion than anything else.

"What's the price?" Chat Noir asked quietly.

Hawk Moth frowned. "What do you mean?"

The boy snorted. "A wish, just like that? Free and clear? That only happens in fairy tales. What's the price for making a wish?"

This was getting  _very_  frustrating. His goal was  _so close_. But then, that was all the more reason to calm down and think things through rationally.

"Balance must be maintained. If I wish something in time undone, then something of equal importance will happen in it's place."

The hero's face fell. "So if I wished someone would live, someone else would have to die. If I wished someone to return, then someone else would have to disappear."

Hawk Moth's mouth thinned into a line. "Yes," he said.

Chat Noir looked right at him, he was sure. In reality, he was just looking at the akuma, who (thankfully) seemed perfectly content to play go-between. He was thankful he'd chosen an akuma who didn't want to fight. At least, he didn't seem like he wanted to fight Chat Noir. He was itching to go after the people who had made fun of him.

"Who would you give up for your wife?" Chat asked. Something resonated in Hawk Moth.

"Myself," he replied simply.

Chat's expression fell into blankness, probably out of sheer surprise. He doubted the hero had expected the villain to say such a thing.

Then he deflated just a little and scratched the back of his head. "Tell me where to go to find you. I'll get the earrings."

Hawk Moth couldn't believe his luck... didn't  _dare_  believe it... and yet he couldn't not take this chance. But not at his main lair. No. But he did have another property on the outskirts of Paris that would be empty now.

So he told them the address. The akuma relayed it. For some reason the boy's eyes widened and he looked like he wanted to say something, but then he closed his mouth with a clop.

"I'll be there. Give me one hour."

"Geek Squad, accompany Chat Noir and then you can do as you wish."

"Yeah," Chat nodded, walking up to the akuma. It was the smile that got to Hawk Moth. He didn't smile like that anymore. "No." He reached over and grabbed the silver pocketwatch that had the akuma in it. The one from the akuma's favorite show. Then he crushed it.

"Stop terrorizing Paris," was all he heard before his connection to the akuma faded.

Hawk Moth grit his teeth. He wanted to yell and scream and rage... The boy had  _tricked_  him... and yet...

He detransformed and handed Nooroo the bag of salted potato chips without a word. Nooroo sighed and took them, eating them quickly.

"Come," Gabriel said as he walked past. "We have somewhere to be."

xXx

Chat Noir was late. Only by five minutes, but it still made Hawk Moth worry. He'd set it up so that when the boy came in, he wouldn't see the villain immediately. Hawk Moth had his backup in the form of another akuma, this one waiting quietly behind him, ready to pounce the moment he said anything.

He half expected Chat Noir wouldn't show.

So when the cat boy slunk through the window, looking the worse for wear and breathing hard, he almost couldn't help but be surprised.

"Hawk Moth, I'm here," he yelled, his voice harsh.

He had the gorilla-like man (whom he'd had to fire before he could get him akumatized, but it had been sacrifice he was willing to make) jump down in front of Chat Noir, who looked on with a sort of horror.

"No," he said aloud, looking down and holding his stomach. "No, I want to talk to you face to face or I'll cataclysm these earrings, so help me!"

He wasn't lying. Somehow, Hawk Moth knew it.

So he jumped down from his vantage point and landed in the light of the moon shining through the window.

"I take it whoever had the earrings didn't want to release them."

Chat scoffed. "Understatement."

"Well," Hawk Moth held out his hand.

The green-eyed boy shook his head. "Not just handing them over. You tell me what to wish for, and I'll do it."

Hawk Moth's eyes narrowed. "And I should just trust you?"

Chat's own eyes narrowed, matching the other man's expression. "Of the two of us, you've been terrorizing Paris. I've been fighting to save it. We'll trust me, or I'll take the earrings right now."

The villain grit his teeth.

"Or I could have Mr. Gorilla here take them by force."

Chat opened his hand just a touch and Hawk Moth saw a pair of plain, black earrings. But these were the real thing. They gave off a magical resonance, small but there. Then the hero closed his hand and held it up.

"One word, Hawk Moth. Don't try me."

Something had to give here.

"Very well," he managed to get out through his clenched jaw. "I will invoke the spell. You wish that the events of March 23, 2016 had happened differently. That I had left that morning instead of my wife."

Chat Noir's eyes narrowed, but then he took a deep breath.

Hawk Moth muttered under his breath, invoking the spell. A wind picked up around them.

"I wish that Hawk Moth would have left on the 23rd of March, 2016, instead of his wife," he said. Hawk Moth... no, Gabriel, felt his insides relax.

"And," Chat continued, "I wish I would have died instead of Ladybug."

A bright light shone through the room, and two new dimensions were created.

In one, Gabriel Agreste left on the morning of the 23rd of March in place of his wife. He was never heard from again.

In the second, Gabriel Agreste still became Hawk Moth, but Chat Noir had been closer to a bridge accident than Ladybug. He'd gotten to the scene, taken one look around, closed his eyes and sighed. He'd yelled something to the bus driver, who was helping everyone get off the bus. They'd just gotten to the last few people, when Chat's foot slipped. Apparently, his suit caught on the edge of the bus and he was dragged over the edge and down into the water.

When Ladybug arrived, she saw someone she'd never met before, a middle-aged man with brown hair, waving at her and landed in front of him.

"Ladybug," he said frantically, "You have to help him! But he had a message for you that he said had to be delivered immediately!"

She blinked. "What? Who?"

"Chat Noir! He said that he made this wish and that he would gladly take your place any day. That balance must be maintained! He sounded so final!"

Ladybug's heart stopped. "What?! Where is he?!"

"He fell over the side of the bridge! The bus dragged him down."

She gasped.

"Thank you!" she whispered as she turned and dove over the edge of the railing.

Chat Noir had been in the water for a little over 18 minutes when she pulled him up on land and began CPR.

It didn't work. She called on her lucky charm, but only got a phone. So she tried her last resort, but even her Miraculous cure didn't bring him back. So she picked him up, tears in her eyes as she ran with his body in her arms. She had to get him to a hospital. Maybe science could help where magic failed. Maybe...

 _Balance must be maintained,_  she heard the bus driver say in her head, but shook the thought violently away. She was almost there when she detransformed. That was when she noticed through the tears in her eyes that he'd detransformed as well. And then her breath caught in her throat. Adrien...It was  _Adrien_.

All of Paris heard her scream.


	11. Time Traveler

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stand Alone – Under the pretense that Alya gets and keeps her miraculous.

Master Fu loved what he did, both as an every day job, and as the magical guardian of the Miraculous stones. Sure, it had its drawbacks (outliving anyone he'd been born with, all of his family and many generations afterwards), but the rewards were immeasurable. And he had just gotten that much closer to finding the butterfly (and hopefully peacock) Miraculous as well. He was sure his two, new holders would be up to the task (well, they'd been doing a great job of it so far, even if there had only been about two weeks and four akuma.

Now if only he could figure out what that strange, magical disturbance last night had been. He was sure all the Kwami had felt it, although he couldn't be sure if said Kwami had told their wielders. It was as if...well, he couldn't quite describe it, and he'd never heard anything like it happening before. But,the closest thing he could come to describing it is that someone had basically torn a hole in space and time and then blown a raspberry before closing back up again. There hadn't been any real intent behind it, and it had been extremely blatant to those who knew what to sense.

"Wayzz?" he asked aloud. They'd already discussed it multiple times, but it never hurt to try and come at it from a new perspective. His kwami and best friend flew over to him.

"Master?" he asked.

Fu opened his mouth to speak but something twinging on his senses made him pause. He cocked his head to one side. Someone with magical residue was approaching. If he hadn't been on the look out for something, he my have missed it altogether.

"Hide," he finally said. "We're about to have a visitor. It seems we may actually get our answers faster than we initially thought."

Wayzz nodded and hid beneath the table.

At least they had the decency to knock, whoever it was... even if said knocks were loud and demanding. Five knocks.

The old man took what he could from that and sipped his drink before calling out, "Come in."

They did. Surprisingly, he'd never seen the girl who more or less threw the door open and carelessly shut it behind her. She had a lovely shade of tan skin, and hair that faded from a dark, reddish-brown on top to a much lighter red on the ends. He couldn't tell if that was natural or intentional. She had a mole over one eye, wore glasses and a plaid shirt and looked like she either wanted to drop down and cry or kill something. He was actually warily impressed that she could exude both impressions at once.

"Please, come in," he said with a smile as he rose to make some more tea.

"Thanks," she muttered before closing the door behind her, coming up to the table and plopping down in front of it. She put her arms on the polished wood and then buried her head in her arms.

Master Fu raised an eyebrow. "Hard day, I take it?"

The snort that came from her more or less confirmed his statement.

"I'll return shortly with some tea."

"Thank you," she said, waving one arm. "Chamomile and lavender with a sprinkling of cinnamon if you have any."

He raised an eye at her strange order, but shrugged. He did, indeed, have the ingredients she'd requested. Apparently she needed calm today.

It didn't take him long to fix the drink and so, soon enough, he walked back into the other room with a steaming cup on a tray. He placed said cup down in front of her and she looked up at him gratefully.

"Thank you, Master Fu," she said, reaching for the cup.

"You may want to wait for it to cool down," he warned.

She smiled sadly, almost nostalgically. "You said that the first time we met too."

The old man cocked his head to one side and raised one eyebrow. "Oh?" He didn't recall having met her before... ever.

The teenager took a tentative sip of the steaming tea and then let out a welcome sigh.

"My name is Alya Cesaire and I run the Ladyblog."

Master Fu rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Ah, yes. The Ladyblog. I believe I've heard of that."

Alya paused before taking another sip and instead scrutinized her host. "Well, it's official. I came back alone."

The guardian stroked his beard as he studied her and thought over that.

"Came back? And you expected to bring someone with you?"

The girl sighed, suddenly looking far older than her teenage years would suggest. "What happens when you destroy a Miraculous?"

His eyes widened at the multiple implications hidden in those few words. "I..." well, she obviously knew of the Miraculous, and if she'd come here than she knew about him in regards to them. She also said it so casually and without any threat or malicious intent that he could detect (and he was rather good at that, if he did say so himself), so, after some thought, he just continued where he'd left off. "...Didn't think it was possible."

Her expression, somehow, grew even drier. She put one hand in the air in front of her, palm up. "Cataclysm," she said, then held the other one up in the same position on her other side. "Miraculous." Then she put her palms together before pushing them apart, wagging her fingers dramatically. "Boom."

Master Fu's eyes widened even further. "The backlash from that..." he started, his mind racing ahead of him. "Unpredictable... devastating... I just..." He blinked over at her. He wanted to ask when this happened, because he certainly hadn't felt it, and how it had come to be and why and... but he figured that all of his questions could be shortened into two words: "What happened?"

The dry expression turned a little wry and she leaned her elbow on the table, and then her head on her palm, never taking her eyes off of him.

"Well, we went after Hawk Moth."

The old man raised an eyebrow. "We?"

She closed her eyes, obviously trying to reign in her frustration. "I got Trixx. Well, at first it was just once to help out, and I had to give him back, but then it got worse and you decided to give me the miraculous. So, I..." she paused and took a deep, steadying breath. "When we're done here, can I see him? I just... want to make sure he's okay. I understand if you don't want to activate another Miraculous right now, and I... will be upset, but will understand if you choose to give him to someone else. I... I just have to know. He... I don't think he came back with me. And he was in so much pain... I just... please."

His brow furrowed. The way she'd acted before, he didn't think this girl acted so desperate so often. Still, she already knew more than just about anyone else alive today should. Malicious or not, that made her dangerous... or a potential, unthinkable boon. "Perhaps," he finally said.

Alya must have realized that was about as good as she would get because she simply nodded, took another breath and continued. "Anyway, we went after Hawk Moth. We fought. Chat... Adrien... he wasn't thinking straight. I..." She paused and sent a wary look towards the guardian. "Did you know? About his father?"

Well, that sounded ominous. Obviously he didn't know what she was talking about, but it wasn't that difficult to put two and two together. There had been a magical resonance around Adrien when he'd first found the boy, but it had been so faint that he had dismissed it at the time. But if she was mentioning his father and then all of this...

"I'm guessing he's Hawk Moth."

Her eyebrows rose in surprise. "You  _didn't_  know?" She mulled over that for a bit and took another sip of her tea. "Huh. So you don't know everything."

He smiled at her, and managed to make it amused, even. "Of course I don't. I'm only human, after all."

"Huh," she said again, but then either dismissed it or decided to think on it later. "Anyway, we'd just found out and he... wasn't taking it well. Ladybug had gotten Hawk Moth to trip with her lucky charm – marbles, of all things – and he went in with his cataclysm, straight for the Miraculous. I think he was just acting on habit, you know, go after the piece that holds the akuma and cleanse it. I don't think he really thought it through. Can't say I'm surprised.

"Carapace must have realized what would happen, because he stopped Ladybug from going after him and got his shield up around her and Bee. I was across the room from them, but I still saw him going for it. There wasn't much else I could do, so I dove forward, tried to push him back towards the shield, but I didn't get there in time.

"Then..." she shuddered. "Then everything fell apart. I think. I... I'm not sure how to describe it. It's just, everything  _unraveled._  Adrien screamed, but it sounded like more than one person. I think his Kwami was screaming too. Trixx screamed as well and I heard more voices. I... I think it was all the Kwami. And the world just...  _wasn't_  anymore. I don't know why I'm here and no one else is, but maybe I got thrown back the furthest because I was the closest to him at the time? But where is Adrien then? Unless..." she paused, looking rather sick, and Master Fu got the distinct impression Alya wasn't talking to him anymore. From what she said and how she was reacting, he needed to fix that, get her to focus on the here and now and get her mind away from unpleasant memories and conclusions.

"So, when you say 'back', you mean from the Future?"

The girl startled, as if just realizing he was there. Then she heard his words and sighed in relief. "Yes. I woke up all the way back here, before everything happened, before I got my Miraculous. Although, I have to say that being back when my boyfriend and I aren't dating and my two best friends don't even know about each other..." She suddenly got a pained look, closed her eyes and leaned down, banging her head on the table softly.

"Oh, I'm so going to lock them in a closet! I can't take another year or two of their drama!"

Master Fu sipped his tea and decided to try and lighten the mood. "If they are as difficult as you say they are, are they worth your friendship?"

The glare she shot at him could have melted stone. "Of  _course_  they are! They are the kindest, sweetest, most selfless people I've ever met! You should know that! You gave them their Miraculous!"

So she had been talking about those two.

"But honestly! Only those two could be involved in a love square that  _only involves two people!_  Why?! Why, I ask you?!"

Master Fu smiled. "Can you honestly say you would do any better in their situation?"

She opened her mouth, but paused and then closed it after a few seconds. Then she muttered, "At least I can be honest with myself about my feelings."

The Guardian couldn't help it. He laughed.

"Come," he said, gesturing for her to follow him as he rose and walked to the back of the room, towards the old phonograph. She sent him a questioning look before he turned his back to her, but he heard her rise and come to stand behind him as he opened the hiding place.

He entered his pass code and reached in to remove the box and heard her sharp intake of breath. He ignored it, continuing to smile as he set the box down and opened it, revealing seven spaces, five of them empty.

"Master!" Wayzz said, rushing from under the table. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Hi, Wayzz," Alya said softly. Fu glanced at her to see a relieved smile on her face, and knew his stoic friend well enough to see the surprise in his expression. It was really just more evidence that she was telling the truth. Still, the kwami would have the final say.

Wayzz flew up to her and studied her intently. The old man went back to picking up one of the two remaining boxes. Then he handed it to her.

"Check and see for yourself."

Alya blinked, then her gaze hardened and she nodded firmly. "Thank you."

She opened the box and a bright, orange light appeared in front of her.

"Hello," the little fox said, "I'm—"

" _Trixx!_ " Alya practically yelled. Her arms darted forward to grab the Kwami and then brought him to her neck in a hug. "Oh, I'm so glad you're okay! I was so worried! You..." she paused, eyes opening wide before she hurriedly let Trixx go and stepped back, cautiously. "S-sorry. You obviously don't know me at all and I... Well, I'm... I'm just really happy this version of you is okay. I... I don't think my version is." She looked down sadly.

"This version...?" Trixx asked, confused. Then he turned to Wayzz. "Did Plagg finally talk you into pranking me back for Istanbul?" he huffed. "Oh, for goodness... That was  _centuries_  ago! Besides, it was just a joke!"

Wayzz didn't answer, although he looked distinctly amused.

"Oh," Alya said, a gleam in her eye as she rushed back to her backpack. "You haven't told me about that one! I gotta write it down in my..." she faded off as she opened her bag and looked inside, obviously not finding what she'd been expecting to. "Oh. Right."

Trixx, looking rather lost himself, glanced over at Master Fu.

The old man didn't allow himself to snicker. He had far too much control for that. "Alya here is from the future. Apparently, she was your wielder in another timeline."

"Oh," Trixx said, blinking his large eyes at him, then glancing back at Alya, who hadn't seemed to want to look back up at them. "Well, that explains why she feels so familiar."

The teenager blinked and whipped her head back. "I... I do?"

Trixx nodded.

Alya managed a weak smile. "I'm glad something's still there. Even if I don't end up being your holder this time—"

"Wait, what?" Trixx asked, flying up into her face. "You don't want to be?"

The human girl blinked, backing up a bit to focus a little more easily on the Kwami.

"Well, yeah, I do. But I don't want to force you or presume."

Something told Fu that a year into this girl's past, she wouldn't have said something like that. This girl seemed like the investigative type who demanded answers and fully expected to receive them. At least, that was the impression he'd gotten from the Ladyblog.

"Well, I'm here now, I'm active now, and Master Fu wouldn't have done that if he didn't want you to have my stone. It's my choice whether to accept his judgment or not, and I didn't see a reason not to."

Alya's eyes lit up and she looked over at the old master for confirmation. He nodded, still smiling. The light of hope in her gaze spread to her face and she squealed with delight, rushing over to Master Fu and throwing her arms around him.

"Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I won't let you down!" She looked back at Trixx. "And thank you! I won't let you down either, Trixx."

The little fox laughed.

"Well, perhaps we should get down to writing out what happened in the future?" Master Fu asked, sitting down at the table. "Forewarned is forearmed, after all."

Alya nodded, gaze hardening into steel. He liked this girl. His future self had chosen well, if he had indeed been the one to choose.

"Alright, so let me go over all the Akuma I can remember and what their powers were. Who was the last person Akumatized?"

Fu canceled the rest of his appointments and she stayed there long into the evening before she insisted she had to leave. She promised to come by again soon.

xXx

That night, several months earlier than in another timeline, Ladybug and Chat Noir met Rena Rouge for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who don't know, I have a story up that explains my ideas of how the miraculous may have come to be. :) Check out 'Miraculous Origins'! :D


	12. Red-Spotted Distraction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red-Spotted Herring Verse

 

"Not that this isn't cool, or anything, dude, but tell me again why we couldn't take a 2 hour train-ride to the beach?"

Adrien glanced at his best friend as they stepped out of the limo and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Well, this is as far as my dad would let me go," he muttered, and while it was true, he couldn't help but be both a little disappointed. He also couldn't help but be a little relieved. If an akuma were to attack, he didn't want to be away from Paris in case his Lady needed him. That didn't mean he wanted to skip out on the trip to the beach. He couldn't really wrap his head around the idea of being at a beach and actually being able to swim instead of sitting under the sun and posing for pictures.

Nino folded his arms and grumbled under his breath. Something about how he'd like to introduce Adrien's father to his fist and maybe that would stop him from being a control freak.

It warmed Adrien's heart to hear how his friend wanted him to have a good time. The only other person he ever remembered doing that with was his mother, and while Nino wasn't exactly a substitute for her, it was nice to know he genuinely cared.

"Still, the Paris Plages aren't so bad, right?" Adrien asked, gesturing towards the beaches set up next to the river. It already looked rather crowded, but the beach probably would have been too, and he couldn't really bring himself to mind the atmosphere at all. He was out with his friend and, sure, they couldn't exactly swim in the river due to all of the boats and barges, but they could get something cool from a stand, relax back and laugh. He'd brought swimming trunks anyway, because why not? If he was going for the 'beach' experience, then he'd get as close as he could and hope no fan-girls spotted him.

"Nino! Adrien!" The blond turned in time with his friend and saw Alya waving at them. Apparently she'd had a similar idea as Adrien, because she was walking around in sandals and a bikini under her usual plaid shirt and sun glasses. She also dragged her best friend behind her. Said best friend looked like she'd already spent a little too much time in the sun as her cheeks were a bright shade of red.

Adrien smiled because few people would brave the heat again for their friends like that. At least she had a large, straw sun-hat on that covered her face. She also wore a button-down shirt that she'd tied together at the bottom and shorts as well as her regular, pink purse. She didn't seem to want to look up at them.

"Well, fancy meeting you guys here," Alya said with a grin that was just a little too conspiratorially for Adrien to believe it.

He rolled his eyes in good humor. "If you wanted to hang with your girlfriend too, you could have said so," the blond said as he turned to his best friend.

Nino just smiled and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

Somehow, Marinette just looked redder.

"Hey, Marinette, are you okay?" he asked.

She squeaked and seemed to shrink in on herself. Adrien figured that was a signal to back off and so he did.

"Oh, this girl is just excited to do some sunbathing, right?" Alya said brightly, nudging Marinette with her shoulder.

The girl just squeaked again.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Adrien asked worriedly. "She looks a little hot. I know! I'll go grab some gellato. My treat. That should help."

"Y-you don't have to," Marinette protested weakly.

Adrien just waved her off. "Just tell me what flavor you all want."

"Mango," Nino said with a grin.

"Chocolate," Alya replied, winking at her boyfriend who returned her smile.

"Berry-straw," Marinette practically whispered then realized what she'd said and her face grew even redder. "Strawberry, I mean!"

"Alright, be right back. Why don't you guys find a place to set up on the sand."

"You got it dude," Nino said as Adrien jogged off. Fifteen minutes later, he returned, balancing the four different containers in his hand as he looked for his friends. He found them easily enough as they'd all settled themselves under the sun near an open umbrella. Nino had grabbed a place underneath said umbrella and the girls were laying out in the sun right next to him.

That was when he noticed that both of them had stripped down to their bikini's and he averted his eyes.

It wouldn't do to stare. A gentleman would look away, and Adrien had always considered himself a gentleman. He hoped that anyone noticing his red cheeks would attribute it to the sun.

"I still love 'em, Marinette," Alya was saying.

"You would. You love anything ladybug."

"Psh, of course I do. I have a dozen pairs of earrings just like them at home." Adrien made a mental note to check out her ladybug earrings when he could look at her without looking like a creeper. "But I'm proud of you for finally coming out in support of our heroes!"

"Alya, you know I support the heroes," Marinette returned, just a little bit of fire in her voice.

"But you don't often show—"

"Here we go!" Adrien interrupted loudly as he came up on them. The girls turned over and sat up. Nino grinned at him knowingly as Adrien still tried not to stare. Traitor.

"Chocolate for Alya," he handed the girl the disposable bowl and spoon (keeping his eyes on her face the whole time). She grinned at him. "Mango for Nino," he reached over and practically dropped the treat in his friend's hand, a little disappointed that he'd managed to catch it so easily. He'd find a way to get him back for the wiggling eyebrows and not-so-subtle pointed looks. "And strawberry for Marinette."

"T-thank you," the girl said, sitting up and still looking red. Adrien didn't think it was a good idea for her to be out in the sun, but she seemed fine otherwise, so he decided to keep a close eye on her for the time being (her face, not... anything else). Maybe she was embarrassed to come out in a bikini? That would make sense for someone as shy as Marinette seemed to be.

He also did note her red-spotted earrings. Funny that she finally got with the fad just as Ladybug switched from earrings to a belly-button ring. Not that anyone besides Chat (and maybe Hawk Moth) would know that.

"As for me, I'm with Alya," Adrien said with a grin. "Chocolate for the win." He was tempted to try and voice one of the many puns he'd come up with, and would have had it just been him and Nino, but he didn't want to make too much of a fool of himself with bad puns in front of the girls. So instead, he sat down in the shade by Nino, carefully keeping his eyes off of the girls who remained seated on their blanket as they ate.

And yet, his eyes kept drifting over, blast it!

About the third time he caught himself was when Adrien noticed it.

Alya's bikini, he'd noted, was white and contrasted beautifully with her darker skin. Marinette's swimsuit was red and looked great on her, but what caught his eye was the jewel in her navel.

"Oh, hey, Marinette, I didn't know you pierced your belly button. It looks great!" It slipped out before he could catch himself.

She squeaked again (why did she do that?!) and pulled her knees up to hide it. Adrien immediately felt badly for pointing it out. Before he could say anything, though, someone interrupted him.

"Oh, no, girl. You do not get to hide that," Alya said, putting the hand not holding her gellato on her hips. "Especially when this is the third compliment you've gotten today. And it's only been visible for what, ten minutes?"

"B-but Alya," she protested

"Your parents almost didn't let you out because you just got over being grounded for it. The least you can do is show it off."

"You did that without your parents knowing?" Nino asked, incredulous. "I'll bet they hit the roof."

"Yeah," Marinette muttered, looking away, cheeks still cherry red.

Adrien grinned, wondering when his friends had all gotten in on the trend to pierce their belly button. Ladybug had just done so too and...

Wait...

Could it possibly?

He blinked.

No, no that couldn't be...

Could it?

But Marinette was so shy and timid... except when she wasn't. Usually when she wasn't around him (and he  _still_  couldn't figure that one out).

It really had to be coincidence.

So, why did his mind latch onto it even through the haze... Wait... haze? Somehow, his mind felt fuzzy and he actually put a hand to his head, as if that would help him focus.

"Dude, you okay?" Nino asked, all traces of mirth replaced with worry.

Adrien brushed it off. "Ice cream headache."

Nino winced. "Slow down, man. I know you don't get a lot of stuff like this, but that's no reason to scarf it."

The blond forced a laugh and then a grin (all too convincing by how his friends relaxed... well, except for Marinette). "Alright, you win," he said, but as he spoke his mind raced. Did he remember ever seeing Marinette around when Ladybug was? No. Well, once, with Time-Breaker... although the memory of that one was really fuzzy, but even if he had seen the two together, that had been a time-traveling akuma, and there had been multiple Ladybugs...

After some contemplation, he turned back to the girls, "So, when did you get your piercing?"

Marinette looked like she wanted to bolt but couldn't. She sat there, frozen, like a deer caught in headlights for several seconds and Ardien was about to withdraw his question (from the sheer awkwardness of it all) when she finally answered.

"A-a f-f-few w-weeks ago." That did not sound like his Lady. So why wouldn't his mind let it go? Then he remembered those times when Marinette stood up against Chloe, or when she presented something she'd worked on herself. That girl was definitely someone he could see as Ladybug, but she seemed so at odds with the girl sitting nervously before him. Of course, he acted differently outside the mask too...

"Why did you do it?" Nino asked. "You never struck me as the rebellious type. Did you lose a bet or something?"

"Yeah. A bet. With... a friend," she said vaguely.

Adrien closed his eyes and tried to think of Marinette as Ladybug. She did have the same blue eyes and black hair in pigtails and... wait... what was that he felt? Like static electricity, but so slight and not actually anywhere on him, but over towards Marinette. Towards her... stomach.

"Besides," Marinette whispered, "It's safer." If Adrien didn't have advanced hearing from owning a miraculous, he wouldn't have heard it.

As it was, that was the last straw he needed to hear to confirm his theory. Alright, he didn't have any  _actual_  proof, but once is a fluke, twice is a coincidence and three times, a trend. There were a  _lot_  more than three similarities.

This was Ladybug. He'd be willing to bet his miraculous on it.

Then it hit him.

Ladybug was sitting before him.

In a bikini.

Eating gellato.

Adrien managed to turn his head so that the cold treat he spat out didn't hit the girls or Nino. It was a near thing though.

"Ew!" Alya shrieked. Marinette just looked startled. "What was that all about?"

"Don't breathe and swallow at the same time," was all Adrien could think of saying as he tried not to look in Marinette's direction, sure his face had gotten as red as her suit. If he did manage to look at her, he was sure he'd die from the blushing.

But, hey, at least he got to see her belly button ring before that.

Oh, he was so doomed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Eh, there are reasons why I don't normally do reveal fics. I prefer dealing with the aftermath. Very seriously doubt I'll continue this one, so hope you like it. :)
> 
> Anyway, this was a request, so I hope you like it, hon!


	13. Orange You Glad?

"Wait, is he...?" Chat asked Ladybug as they peered down at the akuma below them happily turning inanimate objects into fruit and people into back-up dancers.

"Yes."

They both watched for several more seconds before Chat said, "Well, it could be worse."

"Yes."

"I mean, if that's what peels his orange."

"Thank you for not saying 'banana'."

"I am far too innocent for such things," Chat said, sounding scandalized.

Ladybug just sighed in resignation.

"Well, let's go stop Carmen Miranda. Do you know where the Akuma is?"

Ladybug rubbed the bridge of her nose, trying to head off the headache. "The hat."

Chat stared at it. "He wore that?"

"Chat!"

"I'm just surprised is all. Not judging," the black-clad boy said defensively, holding up his hands in surrender.

"I was in the area," she said with a sigh. "And I saw this guy get thrown out of a restaurant. He was wearing that hat."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

They stood there in an uncomfortable silence.

"So, what's the plan?"

Ladybug glanced over at him then threw her yoyo in the air. "Lucky Charm."

Chat took one look at the object that fell into her hands and began to snicker.

"You have got to be kidding me," Ladybug deadpanned.

Chat cackled harder. "Orange you glad, My lady?"

She held up the red-spotted banana with a glare. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the Fruit Challenge on the Miraculous Challenges forum on ffnet.


	14. Passive Agreste-ive

Adrien had begun to wonder if his father had been  _slightly_  right when he'd said his friends from school may not be the best influence on him. Not that he was complaining. At all. Because they were still the  _best friends ever_.

The model didn't often spend time with his father anymore, so he'd asked if they could schedule some time together. His father, to his excitement, had agreed. He should have known it was too good to be true because Adrien had woken today, ready to choose a movie or maybe they could play a game or go see a movie or even just talk about something (he didn't know what, but he'd listen to his father go on about clothing and designing at this point) only to have Nathalie inform him that his father had canceled and rescheduled. Like he had for the last three such times. Adrien honestly didn't know why he'd allowed himself to get his hopes up. In the end, it just hurt.

Fortunately, he had a standing invitation to go with Nino and Alya (and most likely Marinette because she and Alya seemed to be joined at the hip) to a movie, so he'd decided to actually go, because anything would be better than sitting at home in his room alone except for Plagg and his cheese.

He'd enjoyed the movie, and it had helped, but then they'd gotten out and he'd remembered why he was there to begin with and his melancholy had come right back. He'd tried to hide it from his friends, but hadn't been able to. Even Marinette had been shooting him worried looks.

He really needed to work on his acting skills.

"Alright, dude, spill," Nino said finally. "What's wrong?"

Adrien couldn't help his wistful expression for just a moment before realizing he didn't want to talk about it much. So he smiled and shrugged.

"What makes you think something's wrong?"

"Please," Alya spoke up with a scoff, "you're like pure sunshine usually, like you're just bursting with happiness and kindness and can't contain it so it overflows or something. Now you're smiles are so fake they're painful."

Adrien frowned. "I use this smile for the camera all the time."

"And I bet those photo shoots don't turn out so well," she retorted. Then she sighed. "Look, if you don't want to tell me and Marinette, that's fine, but it's best to talk to someone. We'll leave if you want to talk to Nino."

The model blinked at that as he tried to comprehend. They'd leave... give him privacy? Just like that?

He suddenly felt much better and more optimistic about opening up to them. Besides, he didn't want to make them leave just for him.

So he took a deep breath an let it out slowly. "No, it's okay. You can stay. It...It's my father."

"Called it," Nino grumbled, folding his arms grumpily.

Adrien raised an eyebrow at him before shaking his head and turning back to the girls. He could understand why his best friend might have issues with his father. Being akumatized over it and all.

So he explained how he and his father were supposed to spend the afternoon together and how his father had canceled for the fourth time this month. By the time he finished, the others were staring at him with wide eyes.

"You have to  _schedule_  time with your dad, dude? Not cool."

"He's a busy man," Adrien slumped, but even to his own ears his voice sounded flat and unconvincing.

"No!" Everyone turned, surprised, to a seething Marinette. "I've looked up to your father for years. I know he's brilliant and super busy. That doesn't mean he has the right to push you aside like that!"

At first, Adrien just blinked because usually Marinette couldn't say two coherent sentences around him. Maybe it had been because of his 'famous' status or who his father was (especially with what she'd just said). Then he smiled because it was nice to see her able to push that aside for him when it was important. Then he sighed and slumped further in his chair.

"Then what do I do?" Because he sure couldn't think of anything.

"Act normal," Alya said suddenly, a sharp glint in her eye that Adrien wasn't sure he liked. "Except for one thing that will drive him nuts! Every time you get in a fight, you do that thing. Problem is, it has to be fairly innocent to work. If you attack, they get defensive. Passive Aggressive works very well."

The blond felt his eyebrows raise.

"Passive aggressive?"

Alya's smile turned predatory and... kind of scary, like some sort of evil fox or something. "Adrien," she said with a sort of sweetness that wasn't sweet at all, "what would bother your father the most?"

Adrien frowned. "I'm not doing something that will hurt his image. He's worked too hard for it."

The blogger waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, no, you're thinking too direct, and you'll never accomplish your goal of getting him to actually notice and spend time with you if you do something like that."

"His image," Nino said thoughtfully. Everyone turned to stare at him. It took him a moment to realize this, and at that point he turned to his best friend. "That's what your dad cares the most about."

"That and fashion," Marinette pointed out, just as thoughtful.

Adrien sighed again. "I told you, I'm not doing anything public."

"We never said you had to," Nino pointed out.

"Yeah," Alya agreed. "You just need to get your point across. I'm telling you, you don't have to do it in public. That would hurt your image as much as his."

Which would just be a pain to deal with because while Adrien wasn't in love with modeling, it was still a living and something he was good at. He was glad they understood that at least. He still wasn't quite sure he understood them though.

"Then what–"

"Nino, you go over it with him. Marinette and I are going to go shopping. C'mon, girl." With that, Alya grabbed her best friend by the arm. The dark-haired girl squeaked as the blogger dragged her away. Adrien stared blankly after them. To his side, Nino just chuckled and shook his head fondly.

"Alright, dude, let's go over this. Passive aggressive only tends to work if you A. maintain your innocence, like Alya said and B. you don't outright tell him what you want. You gotta let him know, asap, 'cause if there's no way for him to win, he'll just freak out at you and ground you or something, but it has to be natural and if he can figure it out, all the better. That shouldn't be too hard for you, although you'll have to keep your temper in check."

The blond could only stare at his best friend, wondering what the  _heck_  they were taking about. Actually, he was seriously starting to wonder if they'd all been speaking in another language.

So why did this bring back that lousy spark of hope?

xXx

Nino ended up quizzing him on 'what to do if' situations. It took Adrien a little too long to realize what they were all planning on doing, but once he did, he found himself fully on board. It really did help for them to realize that he didn't want to  _hurt_  his father or his father's company, he just wanted his father to  _notice_  and maybe even acknowledge him as more than an asset.

By the time the girls returned, he'd begun to really get down what Nino had been trying to say and how to handle things. Of course, he'd have to tweak it because what worked on Nino's parents or Marinette's parents wouldn't necessarily work on Gabriel Agreste. But Adrien was confident that he could do this.

The fact that Marinette and Alya had  _somehow_  found some truly garish prints that bordered on painful to the eye... well, he'd begun to wonder about all of their influences.

That didn't stop him from accepting their gifts with a grin Plagg would have been proud of.

xXx

Gabriel didn't necessarily come into contact with his son every day. There were days he took breakfast particularly early or in his office and thus wasn't able to see his son at all. However, as Adrien was a teenager, he figured the boy would want some time on his own. From what he understood, teenagers were like that. It worked for both of them, really. If he and his son  _did_  manage to see each other, it usually happened at breakfast, even though Gabriel took his breakfast at the usual time of 8:00 in the morning and didn't usually see Adrien on Saturday when a photo shoot wasn't scheduled.

Which was why he found himself surprised when he son walked into the dining room, tired and yawning and wearing the most eye-catching, horrendous thing Gabriel had ever seen.

His shorts, not quite short enough to be considered boxers, nearly drowned his legs in enough material to practically be a particularly shapeless skirt and stood out with their garish red and white print reminiscent of Hawaiian shirts. Gabriel did not know how anyone in their right mind would ever choose to wear such things, let alone his son – a model for goodness sake. But that wasn't even the worst of it because he also wore those under the most disgusting, fairly tight blue and orange leopard-spotted shirt. Why anyone would put that kind of a print on a t-shirt went beyond him. Why Adrien would wear something obviously not his size went beyond him too. Why he would wear orange and blue leopard print over red and white Hawiian shorts...

Gabriel could only stare at the eye-sore that was his son as the boy stopped just inside the door the moment he realized the dining room wasn't actually empty. At least he had the grace to look embarrassed. Instead of turning around and changing into something that should not be burned on sight, though, he merely waved at his father, ran a hand through his bed-hair (as if that would make his current look any more palatable) and then sat down at his usual place.

After a few minutes, the older Agreste was able to jump-start his mind again.

"Adrien," he said slowly, struggling to keep the horror out of his voice, "what are you wearing?"

His son simply shrugged. "These were gifts from friends," he said. "They're comfortable to sleep in and I like the bright colors," he said with a radiant smile.

"Adrien," he said again, voice thankfully firmer. "You will change those...  _things_  immediately."

To his surprise, his son  _scoffed_  at him. "Please, father. Designer or not, you can't  _always_  dictate what I wear. I'm 15, not 5. Besides, these aren't that bad."

Were it anyone but Gabriel, the nonchalance may have worked, but he was Gabriel Agreste and would not tolerate such insubordination.

"I will not allow such things at my table."

Adrien blinked at him for a moment, an expression Gabriel couldn't read crossing his face before he shrugged and stood. "I'll take breakfast in my room then."

"No," Gabriel refused, putting his foot down. "You will not. Breakfast will be eaten in the dining room or not at all." He completely ignored how often he took breakfast in his study or that this was a brand-new rule he'd made up on the spot.

"Okay," Adrien said lightly as he stretched. "What would you like me to tell my nutritionist later today?" He said it with such interest and open curiosity that Gabriel questioned whether Adrien really understood the situation.

Gabriel didn't want to back down... but he knew Adrien needed a strict diet. It had been his idea after all.

"I'm sure one meal won't hurt, although you can tell her that you didn't eat this morning because you refused to change your...clothes." He used that term rather loosely. "Skipping a meal is a viable punishment."

For some reason, Adrien's smile gained just the slightest touch of triumph before he shrugged and walked out of the room.

"Okay, Father."

Then he left Gabriel staring after him.

xXx

"It will take me a few days to get him back on track," Adrien's nutritionist, a woman in her late 30's, with her brown hair pulled back into a bun, practically spat. "He's already losing too much weight, and I cannot figure out why. We haven't changed his diet, but his metabolism must have changed recently. If he continues on like this, he won't look healthy, no matter how much make-up you put on him."

Not that that was a particular problem, seeing as many models didn't exactly do healthy. However, he'd always prided himself on the fact that his son was healthy and still a model.

"I don't care what he did or didn't do, he  _cannot_  skip meals anymore. If you continue to use this as a method of punishment..." She shook her head. "It will be extremely unhealthy. If I hear of you doing this again, I will be forced to call child protection services. If he weren't a model, I could understand it once in a while – maybe once a week at most – but seeing as he is a model and is already on a strict diet... If you care about your son at all, you will not use this method of punishment again. Are we clear?"

Surely she was over-exaggerating. Gabriel couldn't comprehend why a simple meal meant that much, but this woman was the best of the best and he didn't want to fire her either. Doing so could throw Adrien's entire schedule off while he got used to a new nutritionist. Besides, she made a good argument.

So, with gritted teeth, he acknowledged the woman before dismissing her and wondering what other punishments he could use if his son decided to act out again.

xXx

The next morning, Adrien showed up to the dining room in something even  _worse_. The top had to be something straight out of the American 80's with triangles of neon red and yellow cutting randomly and half-hazardly across a shirt. The red had black and white squares as a print while the yellow had polka-dots.

He had to question the sanity of the person making such a  _thing_.

The pants he wore, though... the pants. Pajama pants weren't exactly fashionable in Gabriel's opinion anyway, but these were pastel (under the neon shirt...  _neon_ ) and so maximalistic that he couldn't quite make out the pattern at all. He could just see pastel blues and purples and reds and oranges and greens. It looked as if someone had eaten pastel chalks and then vomited the contents of their stomach over these pants.

"Where did you get those?" Gabriel almost shouted.

Adrien seemed taken back, then he looked down at himself. "Huh? Oh, um, I borrowed the shirt from Nino for a slumber party a while back. He said I could keep it. I liked the pants so I bought them myself."

That last part had to be a lie.  _Please_  let that last part be a lie.

"I've taught you better than that, Adrien!"

The boy rolled his eyes as he went to sit down. "Please, father. These are sleep clothes. They don't matter in the long run. I don't care how I look when I'm in my room and asleep."

That was obvious, and while Adrien may have a point, did he have to wear _that_? It spoke of very poor habits for a model.

"They look terrible, and wearing such things isn't a good habit to get into." He was proud of himself for delivering that with his normal calm.

However, Adrien just shook his head, confused. "I just grabbed the first thing that I can sleep in. It's not like I'll go outside in something like this."

Well, thank goodness for small miracles.

Still, Gabriel had to ask. "I just don't understand why you would wear them together."

Adrien looked honestly confused. "Because they're comfortable."

Gabriel took several deep breaths and then cleared his throat as he composed himself. "If you throw those away immediately, I will make you something just as comfortable for you to sleep in. I will make it myself, if I have to. Then you won't accidentally assault the eye of anyone who sees it."

There was a look in his son's eye that Gabriel couldn't place as the boy cocked his head. "I know you're busy, father. You wouldn't have canceled our scheduled time together for the past several months if you weren't. I know you don't have time to go out of your way to make me something. Besides, like I said, these are just sleep clothes. Why waste time on something I already have?"

The line had been delivered so well that the older Agreste almost didn't catch it. When he did, he couldn't help but stare at his son for several seconds, barely able to keep his jaw from dropping. Any doubt in his mind suddenly vanished and he realized that yes, Adrien was doing this on purpose, as a statement of his dissatisfaction. Gabriel honestly wasn't sure whether to be surprised, angry beyond belief, or impressed. His son had managed to find a non-violent way to speak out without ruining his or his father's image while still managing to be a nuisance, the likes of which Gabriel could not stand.

Suddenly, the whole thing struck him as terribly funny... in a sort of way that damaged his pride and built it up at the same time. Well, it built his pride in his son at least.

Normally, he wouldn't give in. He firmly believed that children needed a firm hand. And yet, he could imagine his wife sitting next to him, trying not to snort into her napkin as her head turned away from both of them. She would find this whole thing so amusing.

So he decided to humor his son. Just this once.

"If I were, to say, schedule time for us to watch a movie tomorrow night, would you please stop wearing those."

Adrien's eyes widened and he blinked, as if not expecting that at all. Then he smiled, bright and genuine.

"Well, I can't guarantee I won't ever wear these again," he said. "I mean, they are comfortable and all, but I suppose I could go change right now."

Gabriel raised an eyebrow, mirth falling away.

"If I see those things again, I will burn them."

Adrien's grin widened as if to say 'challenge accepted.'

"I look forward to tomorrow night, Father. I'll return shortly."

Gabriel wondered just what he'd gotten himself into.

xXx

He had the maids find the clothes and throw them out, just as he'd promised.

Somehow, though, the next time he and Adrien had a disagreement, the boy showed up in something just as bad the next morning.

Gabriel had those burned.

And the boy found something else.

This went on for long enough that Gabriel began to wonder when his son managed to get so resourceful.

Eventually, the fashion designer figured he should simply count his blessings and learn to put up with eye-sores at the breakfast table or avoid it altogether if he really didn't want to deal with it. If this was Adrien's way of speaking out... well, it could be worse. At least he wasn't wearing them outside.

Teenagers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >:D


	15. Not Since The Accident

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From the Miraculous Challenges forum on FFnet

It all started with a bet.

Adrien had been working out lately. It had been for two upcoming tournaments, one in fencing, one in basketball. The basketball tournament could potentially go all week if he his team won, and he'd have to go to his fencing tournament during that week as well. It would be... difficult, physically more than anything else.

He'd gotten stronger, more agile and more aware of his surroundings since becoming Chat Noir, but that could only go so far. He knew he'd need more endurance that week, and it could only help his super hero life after all, so he asked his father for a break from Chinese for a month or so to prepare. Thankfully, his father had acquiesced.

The results weren't just apparent out of his suit. He noticed, as the month went on, that he got faster, stronger and even more agile as Chat Noir as well. It was exhilarating. Which is probably why he turned to his partner one night and grinned at her.

"Race you to the Tower?"

She rarely resisted his challenge on patrol, so she grinned. "You're on, Kitty."

Before she could jump away, though, he held up a hand. "How about a bet?"

There was the hesitation as she eyed him warily, frown coming to her lips.

"A... bet."

He held up his hands as if in surrender, although he never lost that mischievous smile. "Nothing regarding identities or anything like that. Just a simple bet."

Her eyes narrowed. "What kind of bet?"

"Just a simple kind," he replied. "Nothing too major. It's just, the loser has to answer with 'not since the accident' to the first question asked to them by every new person for a day. So you talk to your best friend at school and answer their first question with 'not since the accident' then you can say whatever you want. Another friend comes up to you, the same thing. Got it?"

She pursed her lips. "That's it?" she asked.

He grinned. "It turns out better than you think. You can change the wording to make it grammatically make sense, like if someone asks you how you are, you can say 'better since the accident' or something like that."

She shrugged. "I don't see a problem with this bet." Then she smirked. "Try to keep up, Kitty."

With that, she was off. Chat's grin widened and he took a running leap.

xXx

He'd had to push it, but he made it, touching the Eiffel tower just a moment before she did, but it was enough that even she couldn't really dispute it.

"Since when did you get so fast, Chat?" she asked, slightly out of breath.

"I've been working out as a civilian," he replied, trying to downplay how much he actually had to put into that race. Her ability to swing longer distances gave her the advantage. That, and she was no slouch in strength or speed herself.

"Really? Why?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Personal questions, My Lady?"

She rolled her eyes. "I doubt that can reveal your identity."

He grinned. "I just have some tournaments coming up that I need to train for is all. There are going to be quite a few in a row and I need to make sure I have enough energy to get through it at the top of my game."

Ladybug laughed and raised an eyebrow as she crossed her arms. "Game? What are you, a football player or something?"

He smirked. "Something like that." He could tell she didn't really want to know, and as much as that pained him, he was used to it by now. That, and he still respected her decision.

She let out a huff. "Alright. So I lost the bet. I'll do it... unless I think it will give my identity away." She frowned, looking worried.

"It's alright," he replied easily. "I saw it online. It's a new fad around Paris, so this won't give you away. I wouldn't be surprised if a few people in my class tomorrow ended up having to do it. There are some competitive people in there."

"Chat," she said dryly.

He just shrugged.

"Let's just finish our patrol," she said with a shake of her head.

"After you, My Lady."

xXx

Adrien saw Marinette walking into class, a bright-red blush already on her face while Alya looked to be having trouble walking, she was laughing so hard.

Frowning, he glanced at Nino, who shrugged, and then watched as Marinette took her seat behind him.

"Hey," he said softly, "are you okay?"

Her blush somehow went even brighter and Adrien wondered what he'd said wrong. Before he could say anything though, she managed to stutter out:

"N-not s-since the a-accident."

He blinked, taken aback. "What?" he asked.

She groaned and put her head in her arms.

"What accident?" Nino asked anxiously.

Next to him, Alya burst into laughter again, causing the boys to exchange a very confused glance. That wasn't like her.

Then the red-head managed to get a hold of herself. "Marinette lost a bet," she said.

To that, Marinette said something muffled that no one could really make out.

Suddenly, Adrien felt that much better and he let out a sigh of relief, willing the worry that had caused his heart to race to recede. Well, he could now tell his Lady that he'd been right about the kids in the school. Although, he'd never thought shy, sweet Marinette would be the kind to make a bet like that.

"Yeah," Alya managed to say around an enormous grin. "I see my girl on the way to school and I ask her how she's doing and if she's alright and if she's seen her cru... um, a certain someone. I ask them all right in a row, and she just answers with, 'Not since the accident' and nearly gave me a heart attack! Then she explained it all to me and... oh, only you girl." She turned to her friend. "How do you get yourself into stuff like this?"

In response, she just groaned again.

xXx

He didn't see Ladybug again until patrol two days later. Thank goodness for small breaks, even if he missed seeing the love of his life.

"My Lady," he said with a bow as she landed. "You're looking  _purr-_ fect as usual."

She just shot him a dry glare. "Do you have any idea how difficult your stupid bet made my life?" she asked, voice cold. He couldn't help but smile wider. "I embarrassed myself in front of everyone! My best friend laughed at me all day and even m-my c-crush just..." Chat's heart stuttered to a halt. He knew she cared for someone else, but it still hurt to think about.

"Well, that is what you get for making a bet with the fastest cat in Paris," he responded, recovering as best he could.

"Ugh," she muttered. "I will get you back for that. For now, come on. Let's just get patrol over with. And no races."

His smile was the picture of pure innocence. "Of course, not, My Lady." That didn't stop him from suggesting it no less than 6 times.

What? She was too cute when she got flustered.

xXx

He should have known it would come back to bite him.

Two weeks after his tournaments finished (he won first at fencing and his team took second in basketball), he was enjoying returning to his old routine. He still exercised a bit at night, but nothing compared to what he'd been doing before hand. He'd returned to his Mandarin lessons and was just feeling like things had slowed down when an akuma attacked.

Naturally.

Well, there had been one or two more since his tournaments, but this had been the first afternoon he'd had off in quite a while.

Half of him wanted to curse at the world. He'd been planning on taking a nice, long, well-deserved nap with Plagg totally agreeing, when the alert on his phone had gone off.

A groan and a yawn later, he was running across the roof tops towards Arc de Triomphe.

The akuma, a magician who had been thrown out of their job, was similar to Lila's in the fact that they could create illusions, but the moment one touched them, said illusions fell apart. He could also make things float, including himself. And, naturally, the moment Ladybug told Chat that the akuma was in his hat, the man threw said hat into the air and then created what looked like hundreds of replications of said hat. They'd have to go through them all to figure out which hat was the real one.

"And now, I shall make the Eiffel Tower disappear! Along with Paris' two heroes! Unless you give up your miraculous! And trust me, this won't be an illusion!" He yelled at them, and then shot off towards the tower with a maniacal laugh.

"Hey, Chat," Ladybug suddenly said. "What if I bet I could get the real hat before you?"

He blinked. That wasn't like her. She didn't joke around or play with akuma fights. Then again, he wasn't about to discourage this sudden change. If his lady had an issue, it was that she tended to be a little too serious sometime.

"Bet what?"

"Same bet as before," she replied.

He thought about it. Then he shrugged, sending a grin her way. "Sounds good."

"Alright, then go!" she said, swinging her yo-yo through a good dozen illusions and dispelling them, shooting after the now hat-less man. Chat blinked at the floating hats around him before figuring that Ladybug probably had the right idea and shot after her.

He got to the tower just in time for her to call out, "Lucky Charm!"

A small bag of flour fell into her hands. They both blinked at it.

"Taken up baking, My Lady?" Chat asked, blocking projectiles the akuma sent flying at them.

She blinked, then looked around, and her eyes widened.

"Chat! I need you to dump this on the Akuma!"

"What?" he asked.

She didn't repeat herself, instead throwing the bag to him. He caught it and leapt into the air with his baton while Ladybug distracted the akuma, for once. Chat angled his baton over the top of the guy, spreading white powder as he went and leaving a white streak behind him. The Akuma took a step back, surprised, but Chat could see why she'd wanted him to do what he did. There, on his head, was a hat. Formerly invisible, it was plain to see now, covered in white. Ladybug took advantage of the man's surprise, swinging her yoyo out and snatching said hat off of his head.

"Chat! Cataclysm!"

He agreed, yelling his signature move as he raced the akuma now diving towards her. The akuma was faster than a normal human. He wasn't faster than Chat. The hat disintegrated and the little butterfly fluttered out.

Ladybug cleansed it and let it go with a smile before turning to Chat Noir and holding out her fist.

He grinned and returned the gesture. "Bien joue!"

Then she did something unexpected. She leaned up and kissed his cheek.

Stunned, he fell back.

"What was that for?" he asked.

She giggled. "First, for a job well done. Friends do it all the time, and you deserved a reward. Second, well, it's to make up for my revenge."

"What?" he asked.

"I got the hat," she said with a wink. "That means you have to tell every new person from now on, today, about the 'accident'." Her grin turned positively predatory. "Oh, and I have two minutes left on my transformation. You have four, so it's your job to go and deal with the press, kitty."

With that, she swung away, still grinning while Chat stared after her in horror.

"Note to self," he said, "do not make bets with Ladybug."

xXx

"That was kind of mean, Marinette," Tikki said with a sigh as they watched the news.

"He's the one that likes to joke and make a game out of everything. Maybe this will get him to stop," Marinette responded.

Tikki frowned at her.

"Alright, alright," she said with a sigh. "I'll apologize to him again the next time I see him."

Tikki still didn't look too happy, but she did accept it and went back to eating her cookie while Marinette turned up the volume of the news report as Chat Noir walked towards the cameras like he was walking towards the gallows.

"Chat Noir! Nathaniel Jaques, Macro News station. Can you tell us what happened?"

Chat flinched. "Not since the accident," he replied dully.

Marinette actually almost felt sorry for him. She decided to make him an apology gift. Maybe cookies or croissants or macaroons.

His answer took the questioner back for a moment, and another reporter raced forward. "We just saw that kiss Ladybug gave you! Are you two dating?"

And then she felt really bad for him. "Not since the accident," he responded with a sigh. That just caused more people to rush forward asking even more questions. He set them straight immediately afterwards, telling them that he'd lost a bet and had to respond like that. No, there weren't any accidents; no, he and Ladybug weren't dating; no, he would never make a bet with his lady again.

"Yes!" Marinette said. "Mission accomplished!" Now she wouldn't have to worry about stupid things like that embarrassing her in front of Adrien anymore. Honestly, she didn't need help there.

Tikki just rolled her eyes.

xXx

Of course on their next patrol, Chat Noir asked if she wanted to race. She accepted. They raced all the time, after all.

Then his grin widened. "Want to make a bet?"

She groaned.

 


	16. A Serious Discussion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Chat Noir addresses some things that really should have been addressed a while ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for mild OOCness

It wasn't a good day.

Actually, Adrien would count it in the top 5 of his worst days of all time (although probably not his top 3, but that's still saying something).

It had all started with a confession.

A confession from someone he considered a very good friend.

Someone who he  _might_  have ended up having feelings for if he weren't completely devoted to his Lady.

Someone who took his rejection in stride with a huge smile before excusing herself.

She hadn't come back and it killed him. He'd  _hurt_ her. Admittedly, he couldn't see any way around it all, but that didn't make him feel any less guilty. Leading her on would have been worse, he knew, and yet he couldn't really imagine feeling much worse than he did at this point.

He'd lost someone close to him... again.

His worst fears had come true proving that maybe his father was right. That he wasn't  _worth_ the time and the effort and the energy everyone else had to put into him. If all he could do was hurt those people he called friend...

He hadn't been able to drudge up a single pun all day.

And now, here he was, feeling utterly miserable and waiting on a rooftop for his Lady to come. She was late, but he'd been early, and he was alright with waiting for her because honestly, just being in her presence had a very good chance of cheering him up.

He heard her land behind him and hoped he managed to slap on a really good smile while forcing his ears to stand up as he turned to her.

"My Lady!" he said, then he noticed how different she looked. He was used to a confident, forward woman, except now she stood there, one hand rubbing the other arm and not looking at him. She shrunk in on herself and wouldn't meet his eyes and... something had to have gone wrong.

"My Lady?" he asked, rising to his feet and approaching her slowly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she muttered.

He'd never heard a bigger lie in his life. Now that he was close enough he could see she was upset. Really upset if the dried tear tracks below her mask said anything. Part of him wanted to ask who he had to beat up. Another part of him got even more down on himself for not being able to protect her. Yet another part of him shoved all of that aside, though, because all he wanted to do was see her laugh.

Still, he figured he should ask.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She paused for a moment, contemplating. He knew what her answer would be though, and his prediction was confirmed when she shook her head.

"I don't even know if I can, right now. And even if I could, it's my personal life."

He nodded. "Well, just know that you have one cat who's here for you, eh, bugaboo."

She forced a smile as she looked over at him, but he appreciated her trying. "Thanks, kitty. Can we just, hurry up and get this over with?"

"Of course, My Lady."

xXx

As they leapt over buildings on their patrol route, he decided that he would do his best to make her smile, so he amped up the cat puns and the jokes and the vague funny stories and the silly memories.

Nothing worked.

At first, she looked like she appreciated his efforts, but then her lips seemed to get thinner and thinner. Eventually he figured he should probably just stop if his puns weren't helping and they finished the latter half of the patrol in silence.

Still, he decided that one more pun at the end – one final try to get her to smile or laugh – would be worth it.

"Well, it's been a quiet night, My Lady. Just being here has lifted my spirits. It's been  _paw_ -some." Alright, it wasn't his best, but he'd had a long day.

And his long day seemed to have rubbed her last nerve because she turned and snapped at him with tears in her eyes.

"Can't you  _ever_  be serious?!" she practically yelled at him. "You're a good fighter, but is that and puns all you can do? Does this mean nothing to you? Is it all some sort of game?"

Any other day, he would have been able to take her words with a grain of salt, but that right there may have bumped this bad day into the top 3 with how badly her words stung.

Perhaps it was a long day with little laughter and a lot of loss getting to him. Maybe it was him just reacting to the sting of her words, when he'd been expecting ( _needing_ ) her to make him feel better. Maybe he was just plain tired with everything, but he heard himself speak before he realized what he said. "It's not like you take this as seriously as you could."

Immediately, he wanted to take the words back.

He didn't think he'd ever seen her look so angry (or hurt, and he knew he'd be feeling the guilt from that one later) before. "How  _dare_  you! This responsibility – being Ladybug – is  _everything_  to me!"

Had it been any other day, he would have backed down with an apology, but he was angry and hurt and defensive right now. "And what makes you think it means nothing to me? I tell a few jokes. I like puns. I have to find  _something_  to smile about." Because otherwise he'd cry. Like he used to.

"Oh, so my  _presence_  isn't enough anymore?" she asked, throwing the words he'd said to her multiple times back at him.

"That's not what I meant and you know it," he shot back, hands balling into fists.

She crossed her arms over her chest, still glaring at him. "Fine. If I'm not being serious about this, then tell me, oh wise one, what could I be doing better?"

He grit his teeth, trying not to focus on how this was just how a bad day for an unlucky alley cat would end. It doesn't rain, but it pours and all that.

"Do you really want to know?" he asked, not noting how his voice had gone quiet. And cold. Or how he'd straightened up into perfect posture and looked down his nose at her. "Then I will compile a list. Meet me here tomorrow if you really wish to prove your sincerity."

With that, he'd turned and walked away. He heard her leave the roof before he did. He glanced behind him and watched her swing away until she was almost out of sight before his knees gave out on him and he collapsed.

xXx

He made it back that night still feeling kind of numb.

As soon as he detransformed, Plagg got right in his face. "What was  _that_?" he asked, too loudly for Adrien right now. He had a list he had to compile after all.

"What was what?" he asked calmly as he sat down at his computer.

"You're  _still_ doing it," Plagg growled.

Adrien fixed his cool glare on his Kwami. "Doing what?"

"Acting like your dad."

For a moment, Adrien felt nothing but horror. Then he thought about it. His father who was always so composed and put together. His father who had everything he'd ever wanted (with maybe the exception of his wife, but at least he'd  _had_  her at some point). His father who didn't look like he felt anything – who didn't have to deal with pain.

Was that such a bad idea?

Part of him still wanted to be sick at the thought.

Another part of him told him to  _use_  it while he could. Before he thought about everything that had happened and broke down into a hot mess.

So instead of replying to Plagg's statement, he just waved his hand. "Your cheese is in the drawer."

Plagg just stared at him for several seconds in astonishment before he flew off, silently. Adrien tried to ignore that by turning his computer on and pulling up a word document.

If he managed to get through this tonight, he just might make it through the meeting tomowrrow.

xXx

He told Nathalie he was feeling under the weather the next morning. It wasn't a lie. He hadn't slept well, and while that was fairly normal for him, he really,  _really_  didn't want to face his class today. Especially Marinette.

Once Nathalie informed him that she would make arrangements, she left him to fall back asleep. He didn't stay asleep for long. The restlessness continued to get to him, so finally, he got up and went back over to his computer, determined to finish his list.

xXx

He forced himself to meet up with her that night, not even sure if she would come. He almost wished she wouldn't. If she didn't, he most likely wouldn't have the guts to face her like this the next day. Maybe that would be better for all of them...

But she swung down onto the roof at their usual meeting time looking only marginally better than he felt.

"So," she said in a cool voice that only fueled his own determination to match or exceed it, "I'm guessing you have a list of things I can do better. Let's hear it then."

Well, there went any chance at him calling this whole thing off. Part of him just wanted to get her to talk about what was bothering her and felt horribly guilty about all of this. But part of him – the mangled remains of his pride perhaps? – had to rise to the challenge.

His mother always had said he was too competitive for his own good.

"As you wish, Ladybug," he returned. He noted her slight frown. So she'd noticed that he hadn't called her any of his normal nicknames. Good.

"There have been several things we haven't gone over as partners. We've been avoiding them, for whatever reason, and that stops now."

"Oh?" she asked. "Like what?"

"Firstly? How long will we have this responsibility?"

"What responsibility?"

He didn't roll his eyes and was proud of himself for it. "Protecting Paris and rescuing Akumatized victims."

She blinked at him, her frown deepening. "Until Hawk Moth is defeated."

"Yes, and we're making great strides there," Chat returned sarcastically. "We don't know who he is, where he is, how he operates, anything about his kwami... nothing. As of right now, it's not looking like we will ever defeat him. So what happens if we can't?" he challenged. "What happens if we don't defeat him?"

She blinked at him, her eyes wide and all traces of skepticism gone, replaced by an expression of surprise.

"We will."

He shook his head. "See, that's what I mean. We're avoiding 'what if' scenarios we don't like simply because we don't like them. If we're serious, we need to put an end to that and figure out what will happen if. Good luck, even your good luck, runs out eventually. So what happens if all we can do is keep defeating akuma without ever finding Hawk Moth himself?"

She shot him an expression he couldn't read, but he continued to stare at her, willing her to answer. She looked mildly uncomfortable as she spoke.

"I suppose that we'll eventually have to pass the Miraculous on."

"When should we?" he asked, making a note on the notebook in front of him.

"Um, when our Kwami's tell us to."

Chat nodded. It was a decent answer.

"And under what circumstances do we consider our 'job' complete?"

She blinked. "Seriously?"

"Well, is it just when Hawk Moth is defeated, or when we get his miraculous? Is it when he's incarcerated? When he's  _dead_? Under what circumstances do we  _win_?"

She'd begun to stare at him like she'd never seen him before. Good. That was the point of all of this, right? So why did he feel so horrible? And yet, he also felt vindicated for proving her wrong.

"Well," she started, but he cut her off.

"And we need to discuss it with our Kwamis too." Despite the fact that Plagg hadn't said a word to him all day.

She blinked. "What?"

He shrugged. "We need to make sure that we're all on the same page, and that if we aren't all reaching for the same goal, we are at least aware of everyone else's goals."

She cocked her head. Well, at least one of them didn't seem angry anymore. "What do you think would be 'winning' circumstances?" she asked.

He took a moment to answer, licking his lips before doing so. "Circumstances for defeating Hawk Moth: First, regain his miraculous. Second, put him behind bars... or in a mental institution. I'll take either at this point."

She seemed relieved. For a moment, he wondered why but pushed that thought aside for later. The numbness was starting to fall. Without her ire to fuel his, he felt like the wind had gone out of his sails. Somehow, though, he was determined to push on – to prove that he can take this seriously after all.

"Alright, I'll talk to Tikki when I get home," she said softly. "And I agree with your circumstances."

He nodded, writing that down. "Next: Under what circumstances is revealing our identity preferable?"

She'd started to open up to him again, but with that question, he felt as if someone had shut a door in his face, she closed down hard again. "Chat," she said, a warning in her voice.

He just fixed her with a cool glare. "I'm serious."

"There are no circumstances where revealing our identity is preferable."

He nodded. "So, we let the other bleed out before we take them to a hospital."

That seemed to take her back. "What?" she asked.

Chat kept his face completely blank as he looked up. "What if a lucky charm is destroyed and you can't put everything back to normal? What if one of us gets hurt in that case or in a case where you can't use a Miraculous Cure? There are circumstances that can hurt and kill even us. So we have to define how far we will take that." Gah, Plagg was right! He  _did_  sound like his father. He ignored the butterflies – akumas – in his stomach and soldiered on. "In that case, then we will let civilians and each other die before we reveal our identity."

She'd gone from annoyed, to upset, to horror-stricken.

"No!" she said immediately. "Our identities aren't worth our lives! We just have to keep our identities safe so he doesn't come after us! It's to protect ourselves and our families!"

He felt himself involuntarily relax just a little. "I'm glad you think that, My Lady," he said softly, then almost kicked himself for the slip.

"I would also like to add that other circumstances where it's preferable to reveal our identities: 1. If Hawk Moth finds out who we are – either one of us. 2. If one of us accidentally discovers the other's identity. 3. When we finally take out Hawk Moth."

She shook her head. "No, if Hawk Moth finds out who I am, for example, it would be fine for me to tell you who I am because the reason not to doesn't work anymore. However, you should still keep your identity secret because he could try and send me after you or try and get information out of you."

Chat frowned at that, but her reasoning was sound. Well, that was a positive development in any case. She was really beginning to take his points into account. Considering that these might save their lives one day that was definitely a good thing. Didn't mean he had to like it.

"We're going to need ways to contact each other outside of the costume then," he muttered.

"What?"

He sighed and looked up at her, trying to maintain that stupid numb facade. He wasn't sure how successful he was. Still, he spoke clearly and made sure to enunciate his words.

"We'll need a couple of ways for us to contact each other outside of the suits. I'm thinking burner phones and drop boxes for now. I'll look into setting up a few sites. We could probably set up e-mail accounts linked to those burner phones." He started to scribble down notes.

"We could also have specific codes that we post on the Ladyblog if any of that is compromised or we need something that will update to our normal phones fast."

Chat nodded again. "An excellent idea, My... I mean, Ladybug."

"Chat," she started slowly, but he plowed on. He still didn't want to talk about it. He wasn't sure he was ready to forgive her (and he definitely wasn't ready to forgive himself), and he knew he would if they started talking about it now.

So he just went on down the list.

"We need protocols in place for these kinds of things," he said hurriedly, looking down at his notes and hoping he didn't look too pained.

She sighed, but didn't say anything else, so he continued.

"Alright, so if we find out who the other is by accident, I say we just text each other their name on the burner phones and set up a time to meet and discuss it."

Ladybug nodded, looking rather uncomfortable.

"I can easily get us some phones, so leave that to me, by the way." It would be the least he could do and might help his guilt. "I can even program all of this into some notes so that we can look back and reference them if needs be." He gestured to the notebook in front of him.

Again, she agreed, this time looking far more thoughtful.

"So, what if someone else discovers our secret?" he asked, hating how his voice sounded so quiet. He was supposed to be putting on a rock-hard front! He swore internally.

Silence met his question. He worked up the courage to glance up and saw her biting her lip, arms wrapped around her knees in front of her.

"Well, that would depend on who discovers it."

"If it's a friend we're pretty sure we can trust?" he asks.

"Then we talk to them about it and tell each other," she said. "We'd have to set up some sort of watch system on them, but honestly, most of my friends have already been akumatized. I wouldn't be surprised if it  _could_  happen again, but it never has, so those people would be the most ideal if someone  _had_  to find out about us."

Chat nodded and made some more notes.

"And it would differ with each person, so that would be a case-by-case basis. Alright, then, what if it's someone who live-streams? Or a reporter?"

"Well, obviously we try and get the footage back.."

"Right," Chat nodded again, jotting that down. "If we can get the footage back, they'll still know about us and could still out us."

She sighed. "Too bad we can't get a lawyer."

Chat paused, blinked, and then turned to look up at her again. "That's... not a bad idea. I wonder which lawyers would be willing to take Paris' super heroes?"

It was her turn to blink. "I... wait, what? I couldn't pay for a lawyer. Could you?"

He just stared blankly at her. "It would take some work, but... yes. It would definitely have to be someone we could trust. I'll do some research."

"Chat," she started, but again he shook his head and cut her off, barely suppressing a weak smile.

"It looks like my nights are going to be taken up with some of this, but it's a good idea. The next time we meet up, I'll bring the phones and information on the lawyers so you can look over them too."

She didn't answer and he realized she had decided to scrutinize him. He looked back at his notes.

"If it's a live-stream of some kind and the video goes viral, what do we do?"

"Well," she said slowly, "if only one of us is on the video, then we'll need to meet up with the other so we can talk about it, but I don't really know what would happen."

"We'd definitely have to bring the lawyer in on it," Chat said slowly as he wrote it down. "And at that point, whoever got discovered would most likely have to live as a celebrity."

"We'd have to talk to Master Fu about it too," Ladybug said softly.

Chat paused. "Who?"

Ladybug blinked. "You don't know him?"

The black-clad hero shook his head.

More awkward silence as she processed that. "Oh."

"So who is he?"

"He's the guardian of the miraculous. He chose us to wield the ring and earrings."

It took several seconds for Chat to wrap his head around that.

"What?!" he asked angrily. "So there's someone out there who knows our identities, who has even more of these  _extremely powerful_ magical objects and no one ever thought to tell me?!"

She frowned defiantly. "I thought you knew."

He clenched his teeth for several seconds and counted backwards from ten in Cantonese in his head. Twice. It wasn't her fault. But he and Plagg were going to have words when they got home.

"If he's somehow in charge of the miraculous, he might try to take them away," Adrien finally said, proud of himself for the steady tone the words came in.

She shook her head. "I don't think so. Look, if there's a reason he hasn't contacted you, then I want to find out what that reason is before I take you to see him, but I don't think he'd just try to take our miraculous."

It really was fair enough, but he didn't want to admit it. He was still reeling from that bombshell. "Well, we'll have to  _talk_  to him to see," Chat grumbled. She didn't dignify his frustration with an answer.

"In any case, if our identities got outed to the world, the first thing we'd have to do is contact our friends and family and see what they want to do. Maybe see if we can somehow get them out of Paris or bodyguards or something."

Ladybug raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Bodyguards?"

Chat blinked. "Um... yes?"

"Most people can't afford body guards, Chat."

Oh. Right. It was such a constant in his life that he tended to forget other people didn't have things like that.

"Alright, so that would probably be a case by case basis as well. We'd have to talk to them and see what they want and need. But first thing, tell your partner. Second thing, tell your friends."

"Well, family."

Chat's hands clenched his notebook just a little tighter. "Right."

"Anyway, what do we do if the miraculous get captured by Hawk Moth or someone else?"

She gulped. "Number one, inform your partner via burn phone and Ladyblog. Then we'd probably end up going to see Master Fu."

"Right. And make plans." And if he said that through clenched teeth, who could blame him?

"And if either one of us can't transform, then we shouldn't fight," Ladybug muttered.

Chat paused in his writing. "I couldn't promise that My... Ladybug. And I don't think you could either."

She sighed. "You're right. But we could only fight if we somehow have a way to conceal our identities. Preferably something that covers our whole head and some generic clothes."

"We should each arrange something in case that happens," Chat said.

Ladybug nodded.

"What do we do if Hawk Moth gets both of our miraculous?" He asked the question so quietly, he wasn't sure Ladybug heard him. He didn't want to repeat it though.

Fortunately, she finally answered. "Then we go to Master Fu... or we do whatever we have to to stop him. Again, contact the other and make plans from there. It all depends on who Hawk Moth is."

"I'm guessing it's the same if we find out who Hawk Moth is."

She sighed. "Well, we contact each other first, make plans, go to Master Fu second."

"It looks like our burner phones are going to be pretty essential to most of these," he pointed out.

"Yeah," she muttered and looked away. "Eventually we should try and get to where we have four or five. One or two for each location we have across the city."

"Good idea," he said, scribbling that down.

She sighed. "Any more questions?"

He swallowed and nodded. "What happens if we succeed?"

More silence as she blinked at him. "What?"

"Like afterwards. I guess that's something we need to discuss with our kwamis. What will happen to the Miraculous? Will they stay with us? Or will they be taken?"

It was Ladybug's turn to swallow and she reached up to brush her hand along her earring. "I don't know."

"Okay, talk to our Kwamis and then compare notes."

"Right," she muttered.

"And I hate to bring it up again, but what happens if one of us gets seriously injured outside of a Miraculous Cure's ability to heal?"

"Tikki said that the Miraculous Cure more or less returns everything to the state it was before magic changed things, so that shouldn't happen."

He tried to shoot her a dry look but was afraid it just came off as sad. He was keeping this going through sheer will by this time.

"We don't just fight akuma."

Her eyes widened and her face paled.

Gah, he hated seeing the expression on her.

"T-then the partner in the best condition should take the miraculous to keep safe and take that person to the hospital, hopefully with a really good story."

"They'd have to reveal their identity to the other."

Her voice came out whispered and hoarse. "I know."

It seemed he'd gotten through to her. Thank goodness. He still had a few more things to touch on though, and was afraid that if he stopped now, he'd never start again, and this needed to be done

"Alright, what if that injury won't allow them to be a Miraculous Wielder anymore?" She didn't answer, so he decided to go on himself. "That's something we'd have to talk over with our Kwamis and Master Fu again, I guess.

"And the last question I have: What happens if other super heroes show up? How do we screen them? I mean if one of us can give a vouch for the new person – for whatever reason – then that's all well and good, but what if neither of us can?"

"We talk to Master Fu. He'd know if they were legitimate or not."

Funny, a lot of this was going back to some old guy Adrien had never met.

It took him a few more minutes to calm down from that, but when he did, he closed his notebook and put it to the side.

"So?" he asked. "Serious enough for you?"

She slumped a little bit. "I'm sorry, Chat. I wasn't really angry at you. I was upset at someone else and my frustration just built."

He was about to ask who he needed to beat up before he realized where his mind had gone and he snapped his mouth closed with a clop.

"Well, that's not really true," she muttered. "I was just upset at the situation. It wasn't fair for me to take it out on you and... I'm sorry."

Chat closed his eyes, feeling the last vestiges of anger evaporate, leaving him slumped and tired. He allowed himself to fall back and look up at the starless sky above him.

"I may have... taken this a bit... too far," he conceded, wincing at how much that hurt to admit but also relaxing with the relief of getting that off his chest.

He heard her move and glanced over to see her shaking her head.

"No, Chat, you... you proved how dedicated you really are. It's just... you shouldn't have  _had_  to. That day, the puns and such just... got to me. I shouldn't have let them."

"I don't joke around because I'm not taking things seriously," he muttered.

"I know," she said.

"The situations are easier to handle if I can laugh about them. I mean, I'm the epitome of bad luck and my life isn't exactly easy. No one's is, and I have it better than most, I guess, but I'm not strong enough to just take it. I have to joke about it."

Ladybug didn't answer for a few moments. When she finally did, she sounded... angry? He glanced over to see her frowning at him.

"Just because you have a different way of coping with things doesn't make you any weaker. You're one of the strongest people I know, Chat, and don't you ever think otherwise!"

He managed a weak smile at that. "I wish I could believe that, My Lady."

She seemed torn between sighing in resignation and throttling him. Well, this was at least getting more familiar. He liked familiar.

"Then I'll believe it for both of us until you can."

She said it with such conviction, as if her belief could drag him along through sheer will. Somehow he could see it.

And there was the familiar fluttering in his stomach. Blast it. He had to look away and hope she didn't see the blush on his cheeks in the darkness.

"Look," she continued after a moment, "I guess I'm saying I just want my silly, punny Chat back," she finally said.

"Are you sure, My Lady?" he asked.

She scrunched her nose as if whatever she was about to say actually pained her. "Yes, Chat. Except, you know, not  _too many_  puns... please."

He hoped she didn't see how her asking him to act normally – her  _wanting_  him to act normally – almost made him cry. So instead, he forced a smile. "Anything  _fur_  you, My Lady," he responded easily. "Do you have  _any_ idea how difficult it was for me to say all of what I did without a single pun? Torture!"

Ladybug chuckled a little, although she didn't seem to do so out of mirth. "You brought up some good points, Chat. Are you still going to follow through? Get those phones and research and what not?"

Chat nodded. "Of course. And talk with my kwami."

"Yeah, me too."

"And you need to talk to your Master Fu."

She sighed. "Of course. Do you need some help with money for the phones."

He got up onto his elbows and raised an eyebrow at her. "No."

"I want to participate and help with—"

"I am asking you, My Lady, to let me handle it," he interrupted. "Not because I'm better or richer or whatever, but because I'm the one that kept hurting you tonight, bringing up painful subjects."

"We needed to talk about them," she muttered.

"That doesn't stop the fact that I didn't do so out of the goodness of my heart or even necessity, but a sort of pride and vengeance. Let me make that up to  _mew_."

The super heroine rolled her eyes, but her annoyance at his pun faded quickly as she fixed her gaze on him. "You don't have to."

"Then let me do it to make it up to myself."

She closed her mouth.

Then she sighed again. "You're actually a very eloquent kitty when you want to be," she muttered.

"Is that a yes?" he asked playfully, if a little subdued.

She huffed. "Yes."

He smiled, a real, warm smile. "Thank you, My Lady."

Things were still awkward, and they probably would be for a while, but somehow, Chat knew that they'd be fine.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Alright, so I'll admit, this was more me getting my frustrations out about how irresponsible they're actually being by not talking about these things, but really, I blame Fu. He's being so cautious that it's actually detrimental. Of course, none of these things will happen because it's a kid's show, but irl, these would be the kind of issues they really should address. :/ Just saying. It isn't a lack of responsibility on Ladybug's part, it's a lack of experience. I figure Adrien would know about these things because he's been cooped up and it's a bit on the fannon side to have him be a complete geek who knows anime and movies because he canonically knows video games. It isn't that much of a jump and a headcannon I fully accept, so he'd be used to things like that.
> 
> It's also a bit of a headcannon of mine that if Adrien gets pushed too far, he'll go into 'Gabriel' mode. Hence this... although because we've never seen anything remotely close in canon, it's why I marked it as mildly ooc.
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you think.


	17. A Glimpse of the Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which time travel is a thing.

It wasn't unusual for Marinette to wake up rather violently, shrieking and yelling about how she was going to be late, so when she just slowly opened her eyes and shut off her alarm calmly, it struck her tired Kwami as strange. Then the girl stretched as she sat up, put her legs over the edge of the bed and frowned.

"Marinette?" Tikki asked through a yawn. "Are you alright?"

A pause.

"I... think I'm still dreaming, Tikki."

It was Tikki's turn to frown and she woke up quickly after hearing that. "What do you mean?"

"I'm seeing my old room, Tikki. The one in my parent's bakery."

The kwami's frown turned to an expression of worry. "This is your parent's bakery, Marinette. Just like it was yesterday. Are you feeling alright?"

She saw her charge stiffen and look over at her before glancing around the room again. Then she looked down at her hands and her eyes widened. When she spoke next, she spoke slowly, almost painfully, as if she really didn't want to know, "Tikki... how old am I?"

Alright this was starting to get worrying. "Fifteen."

A surprised squeak.

"What's wrong, Marinette?"

"Oh, nothing," the girl said breathlessly. "It's just that last night, when I went to sleep, I was 19."

Tikki returned her charge's squeak of surprise. "What?!"

xXx

The fact that Marinette had somehow made it to school on time was unusual, but otherwise she looked about as skittish as normal so Alya decided to do what she did every morning and offer support to her friend. Maybe she could help calm the girl down today? She doubted it, but she had to try.

"Hey there, girl," she said with a grin as she walked up to her friend, who jumped in surprise.

Alya frowned. It wasn't unusual for Marinette to be high-strung, but she rarely jumped like that "Are you alright, Marinette?"

Her friend just stared at her for several seconds before choking out, "Alya?" The reporter's worried frown deepened. She didn't know why, but she practically saw the stars in Marinette's eyes as the girl's expression changed and she cooed out, "Oh, you're so adorable!"

Alya blinked and raised an eyebrow. That was strange even for her friend. "Um, thank you, but seriously, what's up, girl?"

Thankfully, the dark-haired girl seemed to come back to reality and rubbed the back of her head. "I just had a really... strange dream last night."

Alya blinked, then felt her face stretch in a familiar, mischievous grin. "About a certain blond model?"

Instead of blushing and stuttering like Alya expected, Marinette just continued to stare blankly at her.

Alya frowned. "You know... Adrien?"

Marinette's eyes widened and she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Oh, yeah. Adrien. Right. Can't forget him. Ever." She said that last part like it was a given... which, really, it was.

Alya's frown deepened. That reaction was better but still off.

"Actually, no. I had a dream that I was from the future and I woke up in this body and had to run around like I did four or five years ago."

A slight pause. "That would suck. I'd hate to be 9 or 10 again. No wonder you're jumpy."

"Y-yeah."

"Well, did you finish your homework? Or did you stay up late with a design again?" Alya asked.

Marinette urked which really said everything right there.

The reporter sighed. "Come on, girl. I'll get you as caught up as I can before class."

"Thanks, Alya. You're the best."

"And don't you forget it."

xXx

The morning just got weirder from there.

Firstly, Marinette didn't seem to get distracted at all, and managed to catch onto the homework pretty fast. There wouldn't be enough time to finish the assignment, but she would probably at least have  _something_  to turn in. Thankfully, Mme. Bustier accepted partial work. But Marinette just seemed more... organized? No, confident? Yeah. Like she'd done this a billion times before and this was easy.

Then Adrien walked in and waved at them and Marinette didn't even stutter. Alya did miss Marinette's wink, but she didn't miss Adrien's reaction to it as he stumbled and looked over at her, shocked. Alya did turn to her friend to see an almost mischievous smile there instead of the usual blush.

Then Mme. Bustier started class.

Still, things didn't get  _really_  strange until lunch, when there was enough of a break for the kids to interact and Chloe somehow got a hold of Marinette's notes.

"Oh, what do we have here? Is that Chat Noir?" She snorted. Surprised, Alya leaned over and saw that there were, indeed, doodles of Chat Noir all over the margins of her notes. Well... that was new. She'd seen Marinette doodling, but had thought it would be Adrien or some design, like normal. "He's such a loser. Not nearly good enough to be Ladybug's partner."

"Not a loser," Marinette replied, completely deadpan. That also worried Alya because Marinette never reacted this... chill towards Chloe. "He's way hotter than Ladybug anyway."

She got several reactions from the class, half of agreement, half of disagreement. Alya was pretty firmly in the latter group, but she didn't want to voice her opinion aloud and support Chloe of all people.

"Huh, you two losers are made for each other," Chloe said, tossing Marinette's notes into the air. To Alya's surprise, Marinette's hands struck out, lightning fast, and was able to catch most of them.

"Still not a loser, but you're right," Marinette said, suddenly glancing down at Adrien with that mischievous expression. "I'd say we're pretty  _purr_ -fect for each other."

She could swear she heard Adrien choke. He definitely coughed. Was there something going on here that she didn't know about?

Chloe just snorted and walked away. "Coming, Adrikins?"

"Um... I'm... having lunch with Nino today," Adrien mumbled. Chloe just scowled before turning and stalking out of the room, Sabrina on her heels. The rest of the room was silent except for Marinette calmly packing up her things. Then she stood and looked around. The whole class stared at her.

"What?" she asked.

"You just don't normally act that way towards Chloe," Max stated slowly.

Marinette just snorted. "Oh, her targeting me is more or less Chloe speak for 'I see you as a threat and must tear you down.' It's actually quite the compliment once you look a little deeper. In a twisted, Chloe kind of way. So, Alya, lunch?"

A very stunned Alya managed to follow her best friend out the door.

xXx

They came back to an akuma attack. Naturally. Marinette ran off to hide while Alya took off after the supervillain. She couldn't have been more excited. She'd needed a new scoop for the Ladyblog and this was the perfect opportunity. Chat Noir got there first, followed very closely by Ladybug... and that's when things got  _really_ weird.

It took a few moments for her to realize that her favorite crime fighting duo seemed to be  _flirting_. And not just Chat Noir! Oh, this might break Mari's heart if she really had fallen for Paris' black cat, but Alya's ship was just setting sails and it looked like a strong wind would keep that one going.

The Ladynoir forums were going to explode after she uploaded this. It was especially hilarious how Chat kept stumbling when she'd return a cheesy pickup-line with one of her own, or stroke his chin suggestively in passing or wink at him. It was almost detrimental to the fight, but so entertaining Alya couldn't care.

The Akuma, a water-based one who got tired of getting splashed by puddles, was quickly taken care of without either hero having to use their special powers, and then the rebuilding ladybugs filled the air, fixing damage and drying everyone off.

Then Alya could swear that Ladybug was about to  _kiss_  Chat Noir before she shook her head, rubbed the back of her neck apologetically and bounded off, leaving a poor, stunned cat in her wake. Alya couldn't help but feel for him.

xXx

They returned to school only to find that it was, sadly, still open. Paris really had gotten too used to these attacks. Alya vowed, for about the hundredth time, that once she found Hawk Moth, she'd introduce her fist to his face. At high speed. Preferably with a miraculous' strength behind it if possible. Marinette just patted her back in fond sympathy as they trudged inside. Some things didn't change at least.

Just as they got to the top of the inner stairs, a commotion near the classroom caught their attention. And, of course, it would be Chloe bullying some random person who had likely just passed by. She was going on about her designer shoes and how said person didn't even have enough money to buy  _one_ of them and how their whole family was going to be in the poor house once she called her father.

And then strangeness struck again. Well, it wasn't that strange to see Marinette marching forward determinedly, righteous fury written all over her face as she muttered something that sounded like, 'I forgot just how much of a pain she used to be,' which made absolutely no sense at all whatsoever. Chloe's always been a pain as far as Alya knew.

Before she stepped too far away, though, she turned to Alya. "Record this, will you?"

It took her a few moments and several blinks before she nodded and withdrew her phone.

"Subtle, if you can."

"Who do you think I am?" Alya asked.

Marinette shot her a fond smile before turning and walking up to Chloe.

"What did he do?" Marinette asked.

Chloe took one look at her and scoffed. "This imbecile wasn't watching where he was going and he got dirt all over my designer shoes!"

"Look, I'm really sorry!" the boy said again, looking like he wanted to be anywhere but there.

Marinette leaned down and looked at Chloe's shoe. "I don't see anything."

"Are you blind! It's right there!"

"That's a speck of lint, Chloe. And why are you wearing your designer shoes to school if they can get damaged so easily?"

"How dare you!" the blond responded, practically shouting in Marinette's face. "The entire school's against me!"

"Look, I know there isn't a lot there, but if it bothers you that much I'll clean them for you if you just let this all go," Marinette said calmly.

"What?! No! I want new ones to replace the ones he mangled!"

At that, Chloe put her foot up and Alya zoomed in on them. "Nope," she said to the camera, "I'm not seeing anything either."

"That's it! I'm calling my father!" the blond said, pulling her phone out.

"The Mayor of Paris?" Marinette asked.

"Of course, the Mayor of Paris! Who do you think I am?"

"Now you're both going to get it," Sabrina said from the side.

Marinette glanced at Alya and gestured for her to cut the camera off.

"Send that to me, will you Alya... oh, and everyone else you can. Including the mayor."

Alya blinked and shrugged before cutting it off and sending it. It would take a couple of minutes, but they had some pretty decent wireless here.

Chloe, apparently, hadn't been paying attention. She'd already called her father and was complaining, rather loudly.

Then, to Alya's utter shock, Marinette took the phone right out of the girl's hand.

"Hey! Give that back!"

"Hello, M. Mayor. This is Marinette Dupain-Cheng," she said as she danced out of the way of Chloe's grasping hands. "You're going to be getting a video of your daughter and her interactions here at school. We've already sent said video to contacts both inside and outside the country. It will likely be up within ten minutes. Instagram, facebook, youtube... It will show a completely unreasonable spoiled brat trying to bully other kids. And with you being her father, well, questions would arise. I wonder what that will do to your ratings. You are coming up for reelection soon, correct?

"Now we can try and stop it, if you actually treat the students here and your daughter fairly. We're not asking for special attention," she actually did a one-handed back bend and walk-over to avoid one of Chloe's swipes while she continued talking. Alya was beginning to wonder why she wasn't still recording this. "But how about you tell your daughter that, like everyone else, if she wants to wear her designer shoes to school, it's very likely they'll get dirty, but it's her choice and her problem. I think we'd all be rather happy with that.

"Oh, you should be getting it now. I suppose you can decide for yourself. Thank you, M. Mayor!"

With that, she happily hung up and tossed the phone back to Chloe.

"How dare you?!" she screeched again. "My daddy is going to..." she faded off as she glanced at her phone and the text message that had just appeared on it. Then her mouth dropped open.

"Hey, Alya, tell everyone you just sent the video to that we'd really appreciate it if they didn't actually put it up...yet."

Actually, Alya had just canceled those that were left and still sending, but those that had already gone through, she quickly typed a text to. "Already done, girl," Alya returned with a smile.

"Now, Chloe, we're not going to put up with your crap anymore. If you want to flaunt your wealth and pretend that it is all the power you need, then that's your choice. I, for one, would be more than willing to be a friend if you can get it through your head that we're people and actually have a lot of say as to whether your father will remain as Mayor or not. It's kind of funny, but people tend to react better when you're nice and caring anyway."

With that, she glanced over her shoulder at Alya. "Come on. Class is about to start."

Alya caught up with Marinette, breezing by a stunned Chloe and an unsure Sabrina. The boy who had been Chloe's initial target looked between Marinette and a still shocked blonde before he turned and raced away down the hall.

As they walked inside the classroom, Alya turned to her friend.

"That was... awesome, Marinette."

The girl sent her a weak smile... which made Alya frown. "What's wrong?"

"I don't like doing that," she finally said. "It may be the only language that Chloe and her father speak, but it's easy to let something like that get to my head and start using it for my own gain instead of helping others and demanding fair treatment. And if I don't, I might give someone else the idea to try it instead. It's just... not something I prefer."

"Like you'd ever do that," Alya dismissed.

The look Marinette shot her wasn't one Alya had ever seen on her face before. Something somewhere between pity, fear and regret. "I'm human, Alya. I get tempted just like everybody else. So the more I avoid that method, the less temptation there is, and the better off everyone will be.

"Besides, Chloe's not that bad when it comes down to the wire. She threatens and bully's people because it gives her a sense of control, which implies that she doesn't have a whole lot in her personal life. She doesn't show kindness because she was taught the lie that kind equals weak. And yet, despite that, if she was chosen to save Paris, I'd bet my father's bakery that she'd come through."

There were so many things in there to question and comment that, for once, Alya didn't really know where to start.

How did Marinette know any of that? How could she say that about her self? How could she trust in Chloe like that after everything? She sounded so old and wise and... well, very unlike the usual Marinette who always had her heart in the right place but actually had a hard time keeping her cool nine times out of ten.

"What happened to you?" she finally heard herself ask.

Marinette's smile turned just a touch wry. "I grew up, Alya. Hopefully, I'll be back to normal tomorrow."

"I dunno, I think I like this new Marinette."

"But you'd still love me if I went back to how I used to be."

Alya snorted. "Of course I would. You  _are_ my best friend."

When Chloe did come in, she sat in her seat, pouting the entire classroom.

xXx

When Marinette left Chloe and Sabrina standing in the upper hall of the classroom, her first thought was that her usual plan had been foiled and so she needed to fall back to plan B, which was to call her mother and complain to her...

But did she really want to deal with her mother? For something like this? No, no she really didn't.

"Ch-chloe?" Sabrina said unsurely. "Are you okay?"

Chloe ignored her, but twirled around to give that Dupain-Cheng brat a verbal beating like none other, uncaring if she put her stupid video up online after all. Who would care... besides her father? Eh, he could find them all and take them down. It wouldn't be a big deal. He was just being cautious.

The two girls had stopped just inside the classroom, and Chloe could hear their voices. She was about to open her mouth when she heard something promising.

"... More I avoid that method, the less temptation there is, and the better off everyone will be."

Oh, there might be something to listening in. Marinette wanted to play at the blackmail game, huh? Well, she'd be entering the big leagues. This meant war.

"Besides, Chloe's not that bad when it comes down to the wire."

Wait... what?

"She threatens and bully's people because it gives her a sense of control, which implies that she doesn't have a whole lot in her personal life."

Part of Chloe couldn't help but be utterly shocked at that. Part of her tried to deny it all, like she usually did, and part of her wondered if she was really that transparent. It scared her and she felt her fists clench at her sides.

"She doesn't show kindness because she was taught the lie that kind equals weak." That wasn't a lie! Oh, she was so going to give that girl what was coming to her!

"And yet, despite that, if she was chosen to save Paris, I'd bet my father's bakery that she'd come through."

And for a third time, Chloe stopped short out of sheer surprise. Part of her couldn't help but think, "Of course I would!" and another part of her couldn't really believe that. That same part couldn't believe that Marinette Dupain-Cheng, of all people, thought so... highly of her (even though she and everyone else  _should_ ).

At that point, she didn't really know what to think.

In the end, she decided to concede this once. But if that slip of a girl thought that her little video would stop Chloe from ruling the school, she'd find out just how wrong she was.

Then she ordered Sabrina to never bring it up again.

xXx

Marinette flopped back down onto her bed with a tired sigh.

"Being fifteen again is  _exhausting_ , Tikki. How did I ever make it through the first time around?"

Tikki giggled.

Then Marinette turned her head and met her Kwami's gaze. "How did you put up with it all?"

"Marinette, that's what teachers do. And I've taught hundreds of girls. After a while, you learn to find the joy in the little things. Every time your student learns something and every time they make a right choice... it makes anything negative worth it."

The girl just looked at Tikki for several moments before she smiled. "You Kwami really are amazing, aren't you."

Tikki giggled. "We try."

xXx

Marinette went to sleep that night worried about having to relive the rest of her College and all of her Lycee years. It turned out, she didn't have to worry as the next morning, Marinette woke up shrieking and yelling about being late. When Tikki questioned her, she seemed to remember the day before being two days ago by the Kwamii's reckoning. Like she'd just completely skipped the day.

Still, on the way to school, Tikki couldn't help but smile. She'd always known Marinette would be amazing, but if she ended up being the calm, collected and incredible girl that she'd caught a glimpse of yesterday, then she couldn't be more proud. And she couldn't wait to watch her little Ladybug grow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Sorry I've been away so long, guys. I still have a couple of ideas to work on for this, but I don't have any time lately and my muses have kind of dried up. :/ Still going to try and get stuff out for you, though!


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